BORIS Johnson today scrambled to woo back Tory rebels with a true-blue bonanza of tax cuts, a housing revolution and a red tape bonfire.
In a major speech, the PM burnished his Conservative credentials with a platter of promises to pull his bruised premiership back on track.
He unveiled a home-ownership drive to get more people on the ladder by emulating policies pioneered by Tory heroine Maggie Thatcher.
And he pledged to cut taxes as soon as possible while also shrinking the size of the state.
The PM told an audience in Blackpool: “The overall burden of taxation is now very high.
“Sooner or later – and I would much rather it was sooner than later – that burden must come down.”
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He added: “You can’t spend your way out of inflation and you can’t tax your way into growth.”
Tory MPs have been horrified that the Government is presiding over the biggest tax burden in peacetime.
Leaning into traditionally Tory ideas, he said sometimes the government has to “get out of the way” for firms to thrive.
He hailed Brexit for allowing him to slash red tape still throttling UK businesses he described as the “bedrock” of the economy.
Mr Johnson also championed controversial plans to trim the civil service by a fifth.
He said: “There are 91,000 more officials than there were. I believe we have the best civil service in the world but, in view of the pressure now on families, we have got to find efficiencies, prune back Whitehall to the size it was only five or six years ago.”
Amid a wide-ranging speech Mr Johnson revealed centrepiece plans for a housing revolution.
In a radical shake-up to give poorer Brits a leg up, claimants will be able to use housing benefits to pay for mortgages for the first time.
Right-to-buy schemes first pioneered by Maggie Thatcher will be expanded so housing association tenants can purchase their homes.
Mr Johnson also promised the nation will weather the cost of living storm, vowing: “We’ll get through it, just as we got through the far greater challenge of Covid.”
He added said: “We have the tools we need to get on top of rising prices.
“The global headwinds are strong, but our engines are stronger.
“And, while it’s not going to be quick or easy, you can be confident that things will get better, that we will emerge from this a strong country with a healthy economy.”
