Tory leadership contest: Boris Johnson plans emergency budget for no-deal Brexit
Boris Johnson is set to outline an emergency budget featuring heavy tax cuts in the event of a no-deal Brexit, it is reported.
Read more: Jeremy Hunt accuses Boris Johnson of getting Brexit facts wrong
The Tory frontrunner and favourite to be Britain’s next Prime Minister has committed to leaving the EU with or without a deal by 31 October.
If the UK crashes out with no deal, Johnson wants to put it in the best possible position to leave the EU.
The former foreign secretary will make aggressive tax cuts, overhaul stamp duty and launch an assault on regulation, according to the Times.
The emergency budget is meant to ensure that the UK economy is “going gangbusters” by Halloween, the paper reported.
Sources told the Times that Johnson will discuss the proposals at a meeting with Sir Edward Lister covering the frontrunner’s first 100 days in office.
Meanwhile Johnson is reportedly considering an £11bn a year proposal from former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab to hike the national insurance tax threshold.
Raab wants to raise it from £8,632 to £12,500, the Times said.
Johnson has already committed to raising the income tax rate for higher earners from £50,000 to £80,000.
Johnson would stop all new regulations in a no-deal Brexit, the Times said.
He would also raise the annual investment allowance much higher than the current threshold of £1m, in a boost to businesses.
Speaking at a hustings yesterday, Johnson said it would be “absolute folly” to rule out a possible suspension of parliament in order to deliver Brexit.
“I’m not attracted to the idea of a no-deal exit from the EU but, you know, I think it would be absolutely folly to rule it out. I think it’s an essential tool of our negotiation,” he said.
“I don’t envisage the circumstances in which it will be necessary to prorogue Parliament, nor am I attracted to that expedient.”
Johnson has committed to a “do or die” Brexit in which he will deliver it regardless of whether the UK and EU have a deal.
Read more: Japan ‘very concerned’ about prospect of a no-deal Brexit
Tory leadership contest rival Jeremy Hunt also said he “deplored” the fact that some Tory MPs had voted to rule out a no-deal Brexit.