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A number of papers report on expectations for the budget, set to be delivered by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday. Mr Hunt is hoping to find the money to introduce a 2p cut across income tax and national insurance, according to the Sunday Times. The paper says Mr Hunt has asked officials to launch a last-minute effort to find other tax rises or spending cuts to fund the move and is set to meet with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Sunday night to make a final decision.
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The Sunday Express says the Conservatives have been warned they face a “furious backlash from pensioners” if they fail to cut income tax. The paper says the freeze in the personal allowance has meant the number of over-65s liable to pay income tax has almost doubled since the party came to power and that angry campaigners argue pensioners are being “ravaged by rampant inflation”. It adds that Mr Hunt is “edging towards” cutting national insurance instead of income tax, but that over-65s don’t pay national insurance, so wouldn’t benefit from any cut.
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Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Mr Hunt says he wants to fund tax cuts by reducing bureaucracy in the public sector and slashing tens of thousands of civil service jobs. “Public sector waste is immoral. It is taking money out of taxpayers’ pockets,” he is quoted as saying. He also admits that he will have less fiscal headroom than he had hoped for in the budget because the economic forecasts he received this week from the Office for Budget Responsibility have “gone against us”.
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The Observer says economists have warned that pre-election cuts to tax and spending could “cost the country dear”. In a statement to the paper, two former advisors to the Treasury say Mr Hunt should focus on long-term measures to spur investment and growth instead of making decisions aimed at “sabotaging prospects for the next government”. It adds that there have also been signs of tensions between the Treasury and No 10, with Mr Sunak said to be pushing harder for tax reductions.
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Prince Andrew will face “new questions” about his association with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein because of new documents set to be released in the US, the Daily Mirror reports. The paper says testimony previously submitted to a grand jury contains details of attempts by the duke to lobby US authorities to accept a plea deal that allowed Epstein to avoid a federal sex trafficking charge in 2008.
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And the Daily Star Sunday leads with the story of Megan Tompkins, a British woman who it says is addicted to mayonnaise. The paper says Tompkins gets through three bottles of the condiment a week and puts it on all her food, including porridge and curry.
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