Image source, Reuters

If you're just joining us, here's a few key takeaways on what the UK chancellor has said...

Jeremy Hunt has said no tax cuts will be happening in 2023 - but, when quizzed on the subject, he didn't rule out the possibility of them happening next year.

He told the BBC he wants to help the lowest paid across the UK - previewing an announcement expected later today about a living wage rise.

Hunt wouldn't answer questions on HS2, and whether the high-speed rail link will run between Birmingham and Manchester as initially expected - but said the government will provide the UK with the "right economic infrastructure".

Towards the end of the Today programme interview, discussion turns to healthcare issues - with Hunt saying artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to help the NHS.

The chancellor says doctors and nurses spend about one third of their time dealing with administrative tasks, but that AI tools could change that. He confirms the government will focus on longer-term cost reductions.

Before finishing his conversation with Nick Robinson, he stresses that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is the right man to make tough long-term decisions.

Turning to the topic of benefits, the chancellor says helping people with certain medical conditions get back to work is "one of the most helpful things we can do for economic growth".

Hunt adds that there is a "social contract" between taxpayers and those on benefits, and that people should not take advantage of public money and game the system.

"We want to live in a society where there's a safety net but we need to know that people are doing the right thing and engaging with the world of work," he says.

"Of course I would love to cut taxes before the next election", but "to do so now would be inflationary", Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says.

He says he will not pretend that overall taxes haven't gone up lately.

But he reiterates that the government's moves to raise tax thresholds and increase the national living wage have helped cut unemployment.

“Today in my speech I am going to be charting a path as to how we get those (taxes) down,” he says, because he "very strongly" believes that's what the government should do.

"I can't give you an answer to that this morning", says Hunt when questioned on HS2, and whether the troubled rail project will be scaled back.

He says the real question he needs to answer is why it costs ten times more to build high speed rail in the UK than it does in France.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to "understand why these things are happening", he says, but adds "no formal decisions have been taken yet" on the future of HS2.

Hunt adds that the government remains committed to providing the "right economic infrastructure" in the UK, whatever decision is made about HS2.

The chancellor repeats something we heard from him earlier - that there are no shortcuts to cut taxes and accelerate economic growth.

He says achieving such things will require "difficult decisions" to be "more efficient with taxpayers' money".

The Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is continuing his morning tour of the airwaves by appearing on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

We'll bring you the latest lines here - and you can listen live by clicking the play button at the top of this page.

No tax cuts this year - but nothing ruled out for 2024published at 08:03 British Summer Time 2 October 2023

08:03 BST 2 October 2023

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

Jeremy Hunt’s message to Liz Truss and her supporters can be summed up in one word: no.

No tax cuts this year, no change of approach to business taxation, certainly no deviation from the central pillar of the government’s economic strategy – which is to prioritise bringing inflation down as fast as possible.

But, speaking to BBC Breakfast a short time ago, he did not rule out tax cuts next year.

And that is hardly a surprise, given the election is all but certain to take place in 2024. Conservative strategists will want to go into that contest either having just cut taxes or with a clear offer of tax cuts to come in the event of a fifth consecutive Conservative victory.

You also see from Hunt the contours of the argument about tax that the Conservatives will make against Labour at the election.

He said that Labour had increased taxes in almost all of their budgets when they were last in government. That is exactly the argument Labour are trying to neutralise by criticising the size of the current tax burden.

A rise to the UK’s national living wage would be a “big deal”, says Torsten Bell, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation – a think tank that focuses on the lives of people on lower and middle incomes.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Bell says that a rise to the living wage will make a “real difference to low income people up and down the country”.

In the same conversation, he discusses challenges to the UK - such as high interest rates, and debt interest payments which are a “significant driver of why taxes have risen”.

He touches on the planned changes to the benefits system, which could see those who do not appear for job interviews or take offered jobs having their benefits cut.

Bell says these changes wouldn't address everything. The UK faces challenges in the health sector as people are getting sicker - the answers to which "don't just lie with the benefits system".

The chancellor ducks questions about whether or not HS2 rail line will go all the way to Manchester - or will be scaled back.

Hunt acknowledges that he was forced to fly to the Conservative conference in Manchester, as a result of a train cancellation amid recent strike action. “The railways need improving,” he says.

But as for the HS2 question: "We’ll make an announcement on that at the appropriate time."

He adds: “We are absolutely committed to investing in our economic infrastructure.”

Asked how he’ll get home from Tory conference, he says he will probably drive “because I think there’s another train strike on Wednesday”.

Hunt is asked about tax cuts, amid pressure from senior Conservatives for him to slash taxes.

"There aren't any shortcuts" to faster growth and lower taxes, he says - following his recent comments that cuts are virtually impossible at the moment.

Long-term economic reform is required, says Hunt, and says Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is willing to take difficult decisions to do so - "but we need to stick to the course".

He adds that cutting taxes in the long term "is possible", but will need tough decisions - and both he and Sunak are prepared to take those decisions.

"We recognise taxes are too high and we want to bring them down."

"We want to help the lowest paid," the chancellor tells the BBC's Jon Kay, previewing his announcements later today about a living wage rise.

Then, turning to his expected review of the benefits sanctions system, Hunt says 300,000 people have been unemployed for more than year despite not being disabled or ill.

"We think it's fair that they engage properly with all the support we've been giving them to get a job," he says.

Jeremy Hunt is being interviewed now - we'll bring you the key lines on this page.

The minimum wage – known officially as the national living wage - sets out the lowest amount that workers aged 23 and over can be paid per hour by law.

It is currently £10.42 an hour but chancellor Jeremy Hunt is expected to announce it will increase to at least £11 an hour from next April.

The rates are decided each year by the government, based on the advice of an independent advisory group, the Low Pay Commission. Younger workers are paid at a lower rate.

Ione Wells
Political correspondent

Image source, PA Media

Accepting the Low Pay Commission's recommendation to increase the National Living Wage to at least £11 per hour will mean annual earnings of a full-time worker on this wage would increase by more than £1000 next year.

It's hardly a surprise the government is accepting the independent recommendations. They almost always do. And while he'll signal that punishments for those on benefits who don't take steps to find work may get tougher, detail on that is unlikely to come until the autumn.

But Jeremy Hunt will hope that talking about incentivising people back into work will distract from other issues that are dominating this conference.

Chiefly, tax. And whether the Tories will lower it.

The former Prime Minister Liz Truss, plans to use a speech today to call on the government to cut corporation tax, build more houses and bring back fracking. The conference centre may well feel a sense of déja vu.

James FitzGerald
Live reporter

Image source, Reuters

Good morning. The chancellor is today expected to confirm to the Conservative Party conference that the national living wage will increase to £11 an hour - a move the government expected to benefit two million of the UK's lowest-paid workers.

Among the other speakers on day two of the conference will be former PM Liz Truss, who's among the senior Tories calling on ministers to cut taxes to boost the economy. Yesterday, her successor Rishi Sunak said he wanted tax cuts - but gave no detail on when.

Before the speeches, Hunt himself will be appearing on the BBC's morning programmes shortly. Ali Abbas Ahmadi, Maria Zaccaro and I will let you know what comes from those interviews. You'll also be able to stream them on this page.