Tories try to staunch Britain’s ever-growing tax take

London | Britain’s ruling Conservatives have launched a rearguard action to stop the country’s tax take soaring to the highest since the Second World War, with a £10 billion ($20 billion) pre-election tax cut aimed chiefly at lower income earners.

But struggling Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s last-roll-of-the-dice budget before an election due some time this year also found ways to jack up taxes, hitting business-class flights, vapes, oil and gas companies, holiday-home landlords, and people who earn income overseas.