Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt dampened the increasing calls for tax reductions within the Tory party, stating that he could not commit to any "inflationary" tax cuts before the upcoming election.
Prior to his speech at the party's annual conference in Manchester, Hunt announced an increase in the minimum wage for workers aged 23 and over to a minimum of £11 per hour, up from £10.42.
However, his message was overshadowed by appeals from senior Tory lawmakers, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's predecessor, for tax cuts in an effort to bridge the gap in opinion polls with the opposition Labour party before the expected election next year.
This dispute represents the latest in a series of disagreements over the party's direction under Sunak, who aims to use the conference to bolster his year-old premiership by demonstrating his willingness to make challenging decisions to improve people's financial circumstances.
He pointed out that tax cuts this year would be inflationary, which would make it more challenging to achieve Sunak's January pledge to cut inflation in half by the end of the year.