Rishi Sunak vows to cut taxes at Global Investment summit
Rishi Sunak vowed “make no mistake, we are cutting taxes” as he wooed global investors at a major summit on Monday.
The Prime Minister made the pledge in his “sales pitch for Britain” at the Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace.
Mr Sunak was addressing around 200 chief executives at the event aimed at attracting funding to the UK.
He said: “When I say that this country can be the best place in the world to invest in to do business you should believe me because of three big competitive advantages that we have.
“Our low tax approach, our culture of innovation, and our people.”
Mr Sunak underlined measures in last week’s autumn statement in his upbeat speech in the grand surroundings of Henry VIII’s former palace.
He said: “The purest expression of this Government’s economic philosophy is that people and businesses make far better decisions about their own money than any government could.
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“And I believe that allowing you to keep more of the return on your capital, our country becomes more competitive as a place to invest, grow and create jobs.
“And make no mistake, we are cutting taxes. Not only do we have the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7.
“Last week, we announced that we would make full expensing permanent. That means you can write off the cost of many capital investments in full.
“It makes our capital allowances regime one of the most generous in the world and it was the biggest business tax cut in modern Britain.
“And that’s not all. We’ve got lower capital gains tax rates than France, Germany, Italy, and Japan.
“Some of the most generous tax reliefs on stock options anywhere in the world. And we’re cutting personal taxes for 27 million working people too.”
But Mr Sunak said tax cuts are “not enough on their own to make this country the best investment destination in the world”.
He also said the UK’s “incredible culture of innovation” was key, adding that it is the “golden thread running through the British economy”.
And he said the “greatest asset to any economy is its people”.
Mr Sunak made clear the UK is open to foreign business talent despite a Tory backlash over record net migration figures.
He said: “We don’t have the monopoly on talent in this country and we recognise that nearly half of our most innovative companies have an immigrant founder.
“So if you are an innovator, an entrepreneur, a researcher, you should know that the most competitive visa regime for highly skilled international talent is right here in the UK.”
He pointed to the high potential individual visa which allows someone who has graduated from a top 50 global university to come to Britain for two years to explore, work, study or invest.
Mr Sunak added: “Nothing like that exists anywhere else in the world.”
He said: “That’s why you should believe me when I say this is the best country in the world to invest and do business.
“Because of that unique combination of a competitive tax system, our culture of innovation and our people.”
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The Prime Minister hailed “growing momentum” in the UK as he listed a series of recent wins.
Mr Sunak pointed to last week’s announcement from Nissan that it will invest £2 billion in its Sunderland factory to build three electric car models.
He also highlighted the UK’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Indo-Pacific trade bloc.
Mr Sunak, who said he was “unashamedly proud” of Britain, was welcomed to the stage for his opening speech by Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch.
She said: “Ignore the doom-laden nonsense that you may hear. The fact is we have the third-fastest growth in the G7 since 2010, a faster recovery from Covid than Germany and we remain the second-largest exporter of services in the world.
“Let’s not forget that people said Nissan would leave the UK because of Brexit.
“As we saw on Friday they could not have been more wrong.”
Ms Badenoch insisted the UK is “already a fantastic place to invest” but added that “we cannot stand still”.
She said: “I want the UK to be even more innovative, even more dynamic and even more successful.
“I want business to look at the UK and see it as a dynamo for investment, free trade and growth.”
Elsewhere during the summit, Mr Sunak insisted Lord David Cameron’s sensational political comeback as Foreign Secretary will not mean the return of his “golden era” approach to China.
Monday’s event, aimed at attracting investment to the UK, was attended by bosses including Stephen Schwarzman from Blackstone, Amanda Blanc at Aviva, David Solomon from Goldman Sachs and Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan Chase.
Ahead of the gathering at the 500-year-old palace, Mr Sunak announced a total of £29.5 billion had been committed by investors, triple the amount raised at the last summit in 2021.
The investment in Britain is expected to create thousands of new jobs in sectors such as tech, life sciences, renewables, housing and infrastructure.
After the summit the chief executives attended a reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the King.
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