Rishi Sunak tonight promised the Tory manifesto will include tax cuts as he attempted to get his party’s general election campaign back on track.
The Prime Minister, who has been rocked by a huge row over his decision to skip a D-Day event, confirmed he was ‘going to keep cutting people’s taxes’.
‘You’ll see that in our manifesto tomorrow,’ Mr Sunak told BBC Panorama.
It is expected the Tories will on Tuesday unveil a pledge to slash National Insurance by another 2p if they win the general election.
This will follow previous cuts to the employee rate of the tax by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt in both his Spring Budget in March, and Autumn Statement last year.
The Conservative manifesto is also set to include a promise to permanently abolish Stamp Duty for first-time buyers on the first £425,000 of a property’s value.
Mr Sunak this evening admitted it had ‘got harder’ to afford a home under the Tories.
‘It has got harder and I want to make sure that it’s easier,’ the PM said.
‘And what we will do is not just build homes in the right places and do that in a way that is sensitive to local communities, but make sure that we support young people in to great jobs so they can save for that deposit.
‘I’m going to go back to tax, because it is important…’
BBC presenter Nick Robinson – who is conducting interviews with all party leaders ahead of 4 July – intervened to say most young people are not worried about the deposit or stamp duty or tax cuts, but cannot afford to leave their parents’ home.
Mr Sunak replied: ‘No, actually when I speak to people it is the deposit that is the biggest challenge because many people earn enough to cover a mortgage payment, but the struggle is saving up for a deposit.
‘That has always over the last few years been the number one challenge.’
The PM had earlier dismissed suggestions he could have resigned amid the outrage over his early departure from last week’s D-Day commemorations.
Mr Sunak vowed to carry on ‘until the last day of this campaign’ as he sought to dampen rumours he might quit ahead of polling day on July 4.
During a campaign visit in Horsham, West Sussex, which has a Tory majority of 21,127, the PM told journalists he would not stop ‘fighting for the future of our country’.
Asked whether resigning had crossed his mind, Mr Sunak told broadcasters during a visit to the Dog and Bacon pub in Horsham: ‘No, of course not.
‘I’m energised about the vision that we’re putting forward for the country.
‘This campaign is not even halfway through yet, and I’m finding enormous amount of support for the policies that we’re putting on the table.’
On the rumours, he also told reporters on the campaign trail: ‘People are gonna say what they’re gonna say.’
‘There are lots of people who want to write me off, write this off, say this campaign or the election is a foregone conclusion.
‘They’ve been saying that, by the way, ever since I’ve got this job, right? Not since this election campaign.’
Mr Sunak added: ‘The reality is I’m not going to stop going, I’m not going to stop fighting for people’s votes, I’m not going to stop fighting for the future of our country.’
The PM also struck a renewed conciliatory tone over his D-Day departure, telling reporters he ‘absolutely didn’t mean to cause anyone any hurt or upset’.
‘I just hope people can find it in their hearts to forgive me,’ he added.
‘And look at my actions that I have taken as PM, both to support our Armed Forces with an increase in defence spending.
‘But also have a minister focused on veterans’ affairs around the Cabinet table, making sure this is the best country in the world to be a veteran.’
Responding to the PM’s BBC interview tonight, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner said: ‘Rishi Sunak’s confession that having a home of your own has got harder under the Tories is a damning indictment of 14 years of housing failure.
‘Home ownership is a pipedream for young people in Britain today.
‘Never once in 14 years have the Tories met their 300,000 a year housing target, and their recent decision to appease the Tory MPs on their backbenches and abolish mandatory housing targets has seen housebuilding take a nosedive.
‘Labour will get Britain building with 1.5 million new homes and the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation.’