00:00 We are committed to cutting tax where it's fiscally responsible to do so.
00:04 We will always make sure that we are doing things in a responsible way.
00:08 We know that low taxes are associated with higher growth.
00:11 We're very focused on growing the economy.
00:14 That is why in both the spring budget last year and the autumn statement,
00:17 we did things which will boost growth by a historic amount,
00:19 according to the OBR, who's the bean counter in all of this.
00:24 So it's something that we are really, really focused on,
00:26 but we've only cut taxes where it's responsible to do so.
00:29 We completely understand the pressure that local councils are under at the moment,
00:34 and that's why we've actually just given councils £600 million as part of a package
00:39 to address exactly that.
00:41 Because we know that an ageing population,
00:44 the pressures of social care, children's social services,
00:48 you know, those are all adding costs to your local council.
00:51 It's also the pressures of illegal migration as well.
00:53 I'm a Kent MP.
00:55 I can see the pressure that my local council, Kent County Council,
00:58 is under because of that.
00:59 So we are giving councils more money,
01:01 and we're also addressing the root causes of some of those increased costs.
