Photo: Collected
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will promise voters on Tuesday (11 June) "financial security" and tax cuts when he unveils his Conservative party manifesto on Tuesday, following a disastrous week led to rumours he might quit.
"We Conservatives have a plan to give you financial security," he will say, according to extracts of his speech released in advance.
"We will enable working people to keep more of the money you earn because you have earned it and have the right to choose what to spend it on," the speech added.
Polls have predicted for many months that Sunak will lead the Conservatives to a shuddering defeat to the main opposition Labour Party in the July 4 general election.
When asked by journalists if rumours of him resigning were true, Sunak told broadcasters: "No, of course not. I'm energised about the vision that we're putting forward for the country."
"We know what Socialists always do -- take more of your money," Sunak was due to say on Tuesday.
Sunak has accused Labour, led by Keir Starmer, of wanting to increase the tax burden on households although the figures are in dispute.
The Tories are expected to pledge to abolish stamp duty up to the value of £425,000 ($540,000) for first-time home buyers, with reports suggesting they will also promise another two-pence cut to national insurance paid by employees and employers for state health, unemployment and pensions.
"Owning a home makes people more financially secure, gives them a stake in society and, as (former prime minister) Mrs Thatcher said, is one of the main bulwarks of individual freedom," Sunak wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
"People should have the chance to buy their own home. It goes to the foundations of what we believe as Conservatives: we are the party of the property-owning democracy."
The Conservatives, who have been in power for 14 years, are bearing the brunt of the difficulties caused by Brexit, the scandals of former prime minister Boris Johnson's government and a cost-of-living crisis that has affected British people since 2022.
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