The Times - UK (2022-06-11)

the times | Saturday June 11 2022 2GM 37

The Saturday interviewNews

a cigar and says that people should be able to indulge their vices in moderation

not unusual if people

are moving around.

Many developed

economies have a similar

status,” he says. However, he

refuses to say whether he was

registered in a tax haven. He

responds: “I’ve been open and honest

about my tax status, I lived abroad, I

worked in New York, I worked in

Singapore.”

J

avid says he was “surprised”

that one in three Tory MPs

voted against Johnson, but

claims it was a “clear and

decisive” victory.

Throughout the parties scandal, he

has struck a more forthright note

than most of his colleagues. A report

by Sue Gray, a senior civil servant,

detailing how No 10 staff drank so

much they vomited, red wine was

spilt on walls and parties descended

into brawls was “sobering reading”.

He says: “There were, as Sue laid out,

a lot of incidents that cause concern.

Was I disappointed to learn about

what had been happening in some

parts of Downing Street. Of course,

who wasn’t?”

The scandal is not over. Johnson is

under investigation by the privileges

committee, a cross-party group that is

looking into whether he knowingly

misled the Commons. The issue

would represent a potential resigning

issue. Unsurprisingly Javid says he

on at those parties... who wasn’t?’

But despite recent rises in admissions,

Javid has few qualms about declaring

the pandemic over. “Of course Covid

is still out there. Covid is endemic like

flu is and other viruses. Thankfully,

it’s no longer a pandemic and we’ve

got the tools to fight it.”

Britain, he says, is now “properly

post-pandemic”. While accepting

mistakes, he insists: “We should be

proud as a country of how we tackled

it — we were the first country in the

world to open up safely.”

He is not shy about giving his views

on other issues, both in this interview

and in the cabinet, where he has

raised eyebrows among colleagues for

interventions on the economy and

housebuilding.

Sunak is facing pressure from Tory

MPs to bring forward tax cuts after

one in three Tory MPs voted to

remove the prime minister this week.

At present, the chancellor has

committed himself to cutting income

tax by 1p in the pound in 2024, on the

eve of the general election. In the

budget that Javid planned to give

before he resigned as chancellor,

before the pandemic, he had planned

to cut income tax by as much as 5p

over the course of this parliament.

He is clear that he wants to see tax

cuts, and believes that they could

encourage growth.“The best way to

finance public services is to have a

dynamic, low-tax economy that

generates growth, that growth will

naturally lead to rising revenues for

the state that can fund the services,”

he argues. “I’m a low-tax Tory — it’s

one of the reasons I’m a Conservative

and I want to see a small state that

focuses on delivery of the things that

really matter. And I want to see taxes

as low as possible.”

Asked whether cuts in income tax

could be brought forward to next

year, he is explicit that they could —

becoming the first minister to say so.

“I know he [Sunak] will want to cut

taxes as soon as he can,” he says. “He

set out a plan, and I’m sure he would

agree that he would want to deliver

on that as quickly as possible. And if

that can be brought forward, of

course, it should be brought forward.”

Javid has faced criticism over his

own tax affairs. He has admitted that

between 2000 and 2006 he was non-

domiciled as he spent most of the

year outside the UK as a banker. “It’s

accepts the prime minister’s version of

events. “He’s apologised for what’s

happened, even things that he

wouldn’t have known about at the

time but he’s rightly come forward

and accepted responsibility. The

prime minister has given an

explanation and I accepted that.”

Javid suggests that the

Conservatives need to be radical to

recover. “Most colleagues would

agree, especially given what happened

on Monday, that people want to see

the government boldly taking

on the challenges the

country faces. People

are going to want to

see delivery. They

want to see focus on

Conservative

issues.”

He is keen to

see more

housebuilding. This

week the prime

minister announced

plans to extend the

right to buy to people who

rent from housing associations

and enable low-paid workers to use

housing benefit to get a mortgage.

Javid argues that “supply-side”

reforms are needed, with new towns

and cities. He speaks favourably of a

new generation of garden cities — a

pledge that dates back to the coalition

but is winning favour again in

Conservative ranks after a Tory revolt

over an overhaul of planning rules.

“We do need to build more homes.

Of course we do because it’s supply

and demand,” he says. “Garden cities

and villages and new towns is

absolutely something to look at.”

While planning reforms have been

dropped to assuage backbenchers,

Javid argues that local resistance need

not be feared. “I can understand if

you live in a community where you

don’t want to see radical change, but

what I have often found is that if it’s

done thoughtfully and planned out

post the development, people are very

accepting and they wonder what all

the fuss was about. So it can be done.”

His self-belief is evident. He

pointedly dodges when asked to

choose between Johnson and

Margaret Thatcher, but gives an

instant answer when asked to choose

between his two predecessors. Jeremy

Hunt or Matt Hancock? “Sajid Javid.”

Quick fire

Treasury or Department

of Health? Health. I help more

people

Jeremy Hunt or Matt Hancock?

Sajid Javid. He’s a great health

secretary

Boris Johnson or Margaret

Thatcher? A great prime minister

Kale smoothie or curry and

beer? Curry and beer. Who

would pick a kale

smoothie? I don’t think

I’d touch one

Cutting income tax

or cutting VAT?

Cutting taxes

TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE

like adults. Given everything that the

pandemic has still left in its wake, you

have significant challenges: people

understand that.”

He acknowledges that many of the

problems of an ageing population and

struggling workforce predate the

pandemic, but says: “Health has

always been challenging for

successive governments, but the

pandemic has made it much more so.”

Only a few months ago, any

interview with the health secretary

would have been dominated by Covid.

ilar

ver, he

rhewas

the governm

on the ch

countr

are g

see

wa

Co

is

se

hho

wee

mmini

ppplans t

rright to b

rrent from hou

andenable low-paid

y

r. Who

nk