Cabinet ministers publicly pressed Rishi Sunak to lower taxes yesterday as the Chancellor used a speech to promise a tax cut for businesses in the autumn.
Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, and Alister Jack, the Scottish Secretary, both argued for new reductions in tax as they discussed the cost-of-living crisis.
Ms Truss called for a "low-tax economy" in a BBC Radio 4 Today programme interview in which she initially prevaricated when asked if she backed the Government's National Insurance rise.
Mr Jack told ITV News Border's politics programme: "What more I'd like to see done is a further tax cut because that's how you get money into people's pockets."
The Telegraph says the public interventions hint at the strength of support for tax cuts in Cabinet as Mr Sunak juggles with the competing demands of soaring inflation and stuttering economic growth.
The Chancellor used a speech at a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) event to indicate business tax cuts are coming in his autumn Budget - but made no such promise for personal taxes.
“In the Autumn Budget we will cut your taxes," he said.
"That is the path to higher productivity, higher living standards and a more prosperous and secure future.”
He said the economic situation was "extremely serious", with the country facing "a perfect storm of global supply shocks", including the impact of the war in Ukraine and lockdowns in China.
"There is no measure any government could take, no law we could pass, that can make these global forces disappear overnight," he said.
"The next few months will be tough. But where we can act, we will."
However, he added that he "cannot pretend" it will be easy to cut costs for families.
Mr Sunak also called on businesses to boost investment and training in order to grow the economy and help ease the cost of living crunch.
"And as I've said previously, our firm plan is to reduce and reform your taxes to support you to do all three of those things," he said.