Rishi Sunak promises 2p National Insurance cut as he pledges to lower taxes

Rishi Sunak will reward workers with another 2p national insurance cut in a “moral mission” to lower taxes.

Launching the Tory manifesto, the Prime Minister will vow to slash the nation’s welfare bill to pay for an unprecedented third reduction in the "double tax" on work.

Mr Sunak will warn voters that socialist Keir Starmer will “take more of your money”.

And he will set out a bold pledge to give first time buyers help to get on the housing ladder by bringing in developers to help fund interest free loans and abolish stamp duty on most purchases.

An “energised” Mr Sunak will use today’s launch to show voters he is on their side after a bruising five days of campaigning.

Mr Sunak will say: “We Conservatives have a plan to give you financial security. 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.

“Keir Starmer takes a very different view. He says he’s a socialist, and we know what socialists always do: take more of your money.

“And we know that the plans Labour have already announced will require them to increase taxes on working households by £2,094.

“We Conservatives have had to take difficult decisions because of Covid. But we are now cutting taxes for earners, parents and pensioners.

“We are the party of Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson, a party, unlike Labour, that believes in sound money.

“In this party, we believe that it is morally right that those who can work do work, and that hard work is rewarded with people being able to keep more of their own money.

“We will ensure that we have lower welfare so we can lower taxes.”

Mr Sunak will lay out plans for a new version of Help to Buy that will mean first time buyers only need to save a 5% deposit and take out a 75% mortgage.

The remaining 20% will be made up of an equity loan that will be interest free for the first five years with 5% will be funded by developers to keep down the cost to the taxpayer.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to take advantage of the scheme over the three years it would run for.

An increase to the amount first time buyers can spend on a property before having to pay stamp duty will be extended.

The figure was increased from £300,000 to £425,000 two years ago but was due to flip back in 2025.

It will mean the vast majority of first-time buyers pay no stamp duty at all.

Mr Sunak will say: "We Conservatives want to create a society in which everyone has a chance to own.

“So, we will abolish stamp duty entirely for first-time buyers purchasing a house up to £425,000 and introduce a new help to buy scheme to get more people on the property ladder.

“All part of our plan to build an ownership society, where more and more people have the security and pride of home ownership."

The announcements come on top of a raft of measures pledged by the Tories since the election was triggered.

They include the “triple lock plus” to protect pensioners from paying income tax on the State Pension, changes to child benefit that will allow more people to claim it, and a guarantee not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT.

The party has also promised not to introduce any new taxes on pensions or increase existing ones for the whole of the next Parliament, something experts have raised as a possibility under a Labour government.

Under the “family homes guarantee”, Mr Sunak has also committee to maintain the current number of council tax bands, rather than carry out a revaluation like Labour-run Wales is doing.

The Conservative Party has put tax at the heart of its election campaign, with warnings that it is in Labour’s DNA to put them up to fund a spending splurge.

Shadow fronthbencher Jonathan Ashworth refused to rule out an increase in capital gains tax or corporation tax.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: "It's becoming clearer that Labour are planning tax rises later this year on people’s homes and pensions that they are keeping out of their manifesto.

“Keir Starmer should have the courage and conviction to tell the British people what these tax rises are."

Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator, said: “The one thing to know about the desperate series of unfunded commitments in the Tory manifesto is that the money’s not there.

“Their manifesto will be the most expensive panic attack in history. The Tories’ scattergun and unfunded commitments have racked up billions with no idea from them of how to pay for it.

“They used to care about economic credibility. Now, in their desperation, they spend every day torching whatever remnants of it they had left.”