Michael Gove, Levelling Up secretary, is asked about the Conservatives record on taxation on Sky News
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00:00 The IFS, that Wight quoted a moment ago,
00:03 says that the shift that you've created is decisive and permanent.
00:07 And let's remember, since you had the...
00:13 Before we had Covid, there were all sorts of other things going on.
00:16 The IFS says this shift is not wholly to do with Covid.
00:22 You really have become, and there may be no shame in this,
00:25 you have become a high-tax party.
00:28 No, I would gently disagree with the IFS.
00:32 In the past, I've taken issues with some of these organisations
00:35 with acronyms that have got things wrong in the past.
00:38 And the... But, Michael, come on, stop it.
00:39 These people can add up. You know that. They can.
00:42 But they're making a projection.
00:43 So, of course it is the case that taxes are higher
00:45 than we would want them to be. That is a fact.
00:47 And it's one that, as I say, I believe is due principally
00:50 to the pandemic, but also to an extent to the war in Ukraine.
00:54 They're making a prediction for the future.
00:56 We've just seen in the course of the last couple of weeks
00:59 that other organisations have made predictions
01:01 about the trend rate of growth in the UK,
01:04 and those organisations have been proven wrong.
01:07 We're growing faster than France, faster than Germany,
01:09 all as some would have it, despite Brexit.
01:12 And so you'll forgive me for taking with a pinch of salt
01:16 predictions about what we're likely to do in the future.
01:19 OK, so what taxes are we going to have cut?
01:21 Well, again, it's for the Chancellor and the Prime Minister to decide.
01:24 My own view is that wherever possible,
01:26 we should cut taxes on work.
01:28 In other words, we should incentivise people to work harder.
01:31 We should make sure that they're better rewarded
01:34 for the enterprise, the effort, the endeavour that they put in.
01:36 [BLANK_AUDIO]