Jeremy Hunt

So I ignored it, asking me to come back to London and be Chancellor.

That happened because...

The tax cuts that Kwasi Kwarteng introduced in the mini-budget were funded by borrowing.

And that's not a real tax cut.

That's actually stacking up debt on future generations.

And the markets, quite understandably, didn't like that.

And so, you know, if you're going to reduce the burden of taxation, this is not something you can do overnight.

It is a long, hard slog.

But the evidence, I think, is very clear in the book that the countries that have done that – I mean, you know, the example I give in the book is the state of Mississippi.

Yes.

Which happens to have a governor who's called Reeves, not Rachel Reeves, but Tate Reeves.

And he's reduced state income tax to its lowest ever level.

In fact, he's got a plan to abolish it.

And Mississippi, which was the poorest state in the US, has now overtaken the UK in GDP per head.

Although not at

what's called purchasing power parity.

So it's, you know, but the point is... There's a lot of debate about whether they're really richer in Mississippi than here.

But what there isn't, there is, you're correct, Robert, of course, but what there isn't is a debate that over the last three years, Mississippi's been growing at about 3% a year and we've only been growing at 1% a year.

And so, you know, you have to have a plan to unlock growth.

Now, my employees' national insurance was one part.