A pro-Brexit group has requested Liz Truss to back out of a tax pledge made by Rishi Sunak, a competitor for the Tory leadership, calling it a “global stitch-up” that makes up for “uncompetitive” markets.
It comes after allegations that the Foreign Secretary would renege on the international agreement, which mandates corporation tax rates of at least 15%.
The UK should leave the pact, according to Brexit Opportunities Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, since it “works against British interests.”
Candidates for Prime Minister have faced calls to reduce corporation tax in order to attract international investors and boost the economy, at a time when the Bank of England predicts the UK will enter a recession by the beginning of next year.
According to the Bruges Group, a UK-based think tank that advocates for looser ties with Brussels and a more independent Britain, “no British Chancellor should ever have agreed to such a measure.”
“The UK must have tax sovereignty,” it added. It is not in our interest to submit to a global stitch-up designed to compensate for the shortcomings of the uncompetitive.”