Rishi Sunak: The time has come to cut tax

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said the government is now able to cut taxes, after the pace of price rises eased.

Mr Sunak said his target of halving inflation had been met so taxes would be reduced in "a responsible way".

He refused to comment on "speculation" about changes to individual taxes and said there would be more details in Wednesday's Autumn Statement.

But the PM said the government could now move to "the next phase" of its plan to grow the economy.

The decrease was largely due to lower global energy prices, so there is a limit to how much credit ministers can take.

However, Mr Sunak said the government had taken "difficult decisions", including avoiding inflationary pay rises in response to strikes, to deliver on its pledge.

"That's why we can now can move on to the next phase of our economic plan and turn our attention to cutting taxes," he said.

"We will do so seriously, we will do so responsibly, but that time is now here."