Hunt will go back to the drawing board ahead of Budget to tackle the £2 billion funding gap

JEREMY Hunt has gone back to the drawing board ahead of the budget to tackle a £2 billion funding gap.

The Chancellor is under pressure to cut spending as several measures to boost growth have failed to meet targets.

Mr Hunt is said to have been in meetings for two days to finance tax cuts next one week.

The pre-election budget will need further trimming as officials try to find revenue boosters to fill the gaps.

Mr Hunt is also ready to cut spending growth for the next Parliament, which will hit Whitehall departments.

The headache comes as Downing Street wants to focus on personal tax cuts.

The Ministry of Finance has examined new proposals money to achieve either an income tax reduction or a national reduction insurance.

A 2p cut in the latter sector – following a similar cut last month – would cost £10bn.

Mr Hunt has already said that there will be less room for tax cuts in the budget than in the budget Autumn Rack.

Officials have been working on plans to scrap or scale back Britain’s tax rules for non-dominant countries, which could help raise £3.6 billion – despite previously opposing the idea.

And an extension of the windfall tax on oil and gas companies’ profits after 2028 is also being considered.

Meanwhile, former Chancellor George Osborne said there were growing tensions between Mr Hunt and Rishi Sunak.

He said: “I think Number 10 was interested in reducing the headline rate of income tax.

“The problem is that this is considered inflationary the office for budgetary responsibility.”