“Today, I can announce that, as Prime Minister, I will cut the base rate of income tax to 19p in 2023 and 18p in 2024. That will give households back £900 a year on average.”

Nadhim Zahawi, Conservative Leadership Candidate, Conservative Way Forward event

11 July 2022

Facts

Nadhim Zahawi made this statement on July 11th when he was a candidate in the Conservative Party leadership election.

Zahawi did not show how the figure he cited was calculated. Full Fact contacted his office to ask how he reached the figure but had received no response at the time of writing.

According to Adam Corlett, principal economist at the Resolution Foundation think tank, Zahawi’s proposed “2p basic rate cut is worth more like £450 per household on average (though very skewed towards higher income households)”.

Verdict

Zahawi provided no evidence for his claim. His office did not respond to Full Fact’s query on the matter.

We emailed Nadhim Zahawi’s office and the Cabinet Office offering them the chance to respond. The email was received by Nadhim Zahawi, but no reply.

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