“You are not stupid” – Rishi Sunak defends his decision not to cut taxes

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John Longworth, the pro-Brexit former director general of the British Chamber of Commerce, said that Swank’s use of the word fool “shows a certain level of desperation on his part”.

“The only idiot in the room is Rishi Sunak,” he said. “It is absolutely absurd that he would take this position, because the UK had the lowest ratio of GDP to debt in the G7 when he took office.

We must reduce taxes and regulation, stimulate the economy and enterprise – this will generate tax revenues.

“It’s a strange situation we’re in, where we have people at the helm of government who don’t believe in growth. They need to go and read Mrs. Thatcher.”

A senior Tory MP who endorsed Truss said: “Frankly, we want tax cuts and I don’t think I’m an idiot. The only way to stimulate the economy is to cut taxes and that’s the conservative way, as it always has been.”

“I know he wants to cut taxes and I look forward to the day when we can cut taxes because that’s the way to generate the wealth and jobs we need.”

“We urgently need a growth strategy”

John Redwood, a former Cabinet minister, said: “The budget tax cut is essential to help people. We are overburdening businesses and people.

Tax cuts are hugely affordable: in fact, it’s the tax increases we can’t afford that stop growth and higher wages. This is not the way to go: we urgently need a growth strategy.

“The way to reduce the deficit is to grow the economy, and that’s what we need to do.”

Asked if Mr Sunak viewed people who wanted tax cuts as “stupid”, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “He has not called anyone an idiot, and he himself has set out his ambitions to reduce the tax burden over time.

He said the worst thing he could do was make promises he couldn’t keep and burden a country with more debt.

He made clear again that his general ambition is to cut taxes. But it has to happen when we have economic stability and inflation goes down.”

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