Boris Johnson: Former British Prime Minister on the UK's move to hike taxes for the wealthy

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson offers his thoughts on the UK’s latest financial policy as part of an interview with Mike Hosking. Catch the full-length interview next week on the Mike Hosking Breakfast.  

Boris Johnson is condemning the British Labour Government's moves to hike taxes on the wealthy. 

High earners, wealthy foreigners, and businesses are facing $86 billion of extra taxes to fund public services like the National Health Service. 

Speaking exclusively to Mike Hosking, Johnson —the British PM from 2019 to 2022— says Sir Keir Starmer's government should be looking to cut the public service instead. 

He says putting up taxes, without reforming the public service, at a time when the UK state has already expanded massively, is "insane". 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I gotta tell you the story Boris Johnson. I had
the best time with him yesterday. I hooked up with
him yesterday morning. He's coming next month for a lunch,
and I tell you about that for a moment and
the full interview, and you can just meet the whole thing.
It had an era of kind of chaos about it,
hints as Boris anyway, by way of a preview, this

(00:20):
gives you an indication. I just at the very beginning,
I said, look, look, Boris, can you can you like
give us just thirty seconds on the UK budget.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Look, I think we left the Conservatives is basically god
infation under control. When I was plannised two years ago,
now more than two years ago, we beat COVID. Yes,
we had a huge problem with the cost of furlough

(00:49):
and we spent a huge amount of fighting Kevid. But
it is insane at a time when the UK state
has already expanded so massively to be putting up taxes
in this way with no form to the public sector
and no reform to white Torby. They scrapped a plan
of ours to cut sixty six thousand jobs from government.

(01:10):
Government has ballooned, and you know, business is being habit.
I just got a message from a children's clothing business.
It's being hammered by these tatses on employment. It will
crush enterprise. It's totally the wrong way for the country.
And you know, I shouldn't be saying that I should be,
because I should be extolling the virtues of my country,

(01:31):
which I do. I believe profoundly in my country. But
this guy's Starmer and his left wing crew, they're going
in the wrong direction and I'm very, very sad about it.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Are they doing what you thought they would do? Or
has the British public belhoodwinked by this?

Speaker 2 (01:45):
Right? It's worse because I honestly thought I thought there
was a chance that he would be another Tony player,
and you know, he had people like Mandolsson around him
and so on and so forth. But he's way to
the left of the player and he's doing stuff. You know,
the I mean tax rates, well, I'm ashamed to say

(02:06):
we're higher under the Tories than they were under Tony Bird.
The income tax rate for top earners was higher, and
that was I was going to cut it if i'd
if I'd been allowed to hang on. This is absolutely
great mistake by my party because we you know what
makes me, what drives me nuts about this, and I
will be covering this in the Unleashed Tour, the DUCO event.

(02:28):
You know, when I was kicked out by my poor
you know, nighted colleagues in July of twenty twenty two,
whatever the hell it was, we were only a couple
of points behind right and this reform, these reform guys,
you know what I mean, the Farage guys, they were
on zero. Okay, they then murdered us in the twenty

(02:50):
twenty four election. But when I was in charge, but
they were on zero, we would not have had this
starmer nightmare if we'd if we'd start to plan. And
I'm very very sad about and I'm frothing frankly about
the because it's it's going to take a long time
to get them out. You know, we have to wait
at least five years, and they're there. They're gaining the
wrong direction now the UK, the UK look at we

(03:14):
need to look at the United States. Compare the growth
rates over the last fifteen years since the crash in
the US and the EU. It's it's shattering. The EU
is basically flat. The US goes up to forty five degrees.
Fifteen years ago, the EU and the US were both

(03:39):
worth about fourteen and a half trillion dollars right internal GDP.
Fifteen years later today that the EU is worth about
it's gone up about a trilli. It's about fifteen trillion dollars.
The US it is twenty six trillion dollars, okay, And
it's got a far smaller population, far smaller population, but

(04:00):
it innovates, it rewards enterprise, it has a lot of
tax environment, it's in favor of growth. It tries to
fix energy problems, and you know both New Zealand and
the UK suffer from from those from the exorbitant costs
of energy. But there's a there's a there's a different
there's a there's a we need to have a more

(04:21):
can do approach in our country. And it's not giving
you far more than thirty seconds. But I'm pretty I'm
pretty worked up about it right now. We were going
in the wrong direction.

Speaker 1 (04:30):
So that was me and Boris yesterday with just basically
the opening question. We got on to other matters of course,
the US election obviously, and so he will be with
us on Tuesday on the program in full flight and
it's an interview. I can assure you that it's well
worth listening to the book Unleash. By the way, he's
coming to the country, as he mentioned with Duco the

(04:51):
Duco events. It's the Capital Long Lunch with Boris Johnson Tuesday,
December three. By the way, if you're interested in the
Christmas Prison for somebody, it's between twelve thirty and four
lengthy old lunch. Mind you, it was a lengthy old interview.
I mean of his lunch is a long interview. We
ever come to an end. It's at the courts in Auckland. Anyway.
More on Boris on Tuesdays.

Speaker 2 (05:12):
For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen live to
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