Apart from claiming it “wouldn’t be appropriate” for him to answer most of the questions thrown at him and hinting that other countries are being approached for Rwanda-style deals, Sunak has scored a few hits at the Liaison Committee grilling this afternoon. The event is mostly an opportunity for committee chairmen to throw stones at the PM…

When Labour MP and Business and Trade Committee chairman Liam Byrne ranted at Sunak about the “morally wrong” decision to have capital gains tax lower than income tax, Sunak pointed out it was actually Labour’s own Gordon Brown who lowered the rate. Brown cut CGT to 18% in 2008 in a sound move to get growth back up, something that Byrne seemed happy with as Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Brown. Rishi dug in: “it wasn’t morally wrong then but it’s morally wrong now… fair enough if you’ve changed your mind on it”. 13 years isn’t that long when it comes to basic morality…

Rishi couldn’t resist spelling it out again, saying CGT now is “even more progressive today than it was when you were in the Treasury and partly in charge of the tax system with the then chancellor“. Twisting the dagger…