Chancellor warns not to expect tax cuts in March Budget Jeremy Hunt has warned Conservative MPs not to expect tax cuts in his March Budget. The Chancellor told colleagues it would be irresponsible to cut taxes at a time of high inflation, suggesting that fiscal constraints could be loosened next year when inflation should be coming under control. Mr Hunt also said he wants to extend the 5p cut in the price of petrol and diesel for another year if the economic outlook improves, having accepted there is a “strong precedent” for freezing fuel duty. Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak has reiterated the argument for keeping taxes high, telling an audience in Lancashire that only an “idiot” wouldn’t recognise how the pandemic and the war in Ukraine had ruined the economy. The Prime Minister said: “I'm a Conservative, I want to cut your taxes... I wish I could do that tomorrow quite frankly, but the reason we can't is because of all the reasons you know. You're not idiots, you know what's happened.” His comments come after a group of Conservative MPs aligned with Liz Truss's tax-cutting agenda formed the “Conservative Growth Group” and business leaders such as Sir James Dyson and Sir Martin Sorrell called for the tax burden to be slashed to encourage growth. Of course many matorsport businesses are being weighed down by record levels of taxation and would welcome tax cuts to enable them to grow and develop.