Further tax cuts could be on the way after the Chancellor said it is “going to take time” to reduce the overall tax burden.

Jeremy Hunt used the autumn statement on Wednesday to announce a national insurance cut worth £10 billion.

Yet despite the earnings bonus, millions of workers will face a squeeze on their finances with the tax burden still set to reach a record high.

In interviews after the fiscal event, Mr Hunt said taxes had risen to pay for Covid-19 pandemic support and Government intervention to help the public through the spike in energy prices triggered by the war in Ukraine.

But the Chancellor said the UK economy had since “turned a corner”, a result he argued had provided him with the opportunity to “lighten the tax burden” with national insurance reductions and savings for businesses.

The senior Conservative told Sky News: “We have made a start. I don’t pretend (and) I’ve never pretended that we were going to get there in one go.

“But what we can say is that, now we’ve halved inflation, the economy has turned a corner, we can focus on long-term growth, raising incomes and salaries for families up and down the country.”

Mr Hunt said he would entertain a cut to income tax in the spring budget “if it is responsible to do so”.

Tory MPs continued to clamour for the tax burden to be whittled down further after the autumn statement.

What was announced at the autumn statement?

At Wednesday’s autumn statement, the Chancellor Chancellor cut the 12% national insurance (NI) rate on earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 to 10%.

It was a change Mr Hunt said would "help 27 million" people by putting extra money in their payslips.

Jeremy Hunt told the Commons he would bring forward urgent legislation to Parliament to introduce the cut in national insurance for employees “from January 6, so that people can see the benefit in their payslips at the start of the new year”.

He added: “It means someone on the average salary of £35,000 will save over £450. For the average nurse, it is a saving of over £520 and for the typical police officer it is a saving of over £630 every single year.”

Reacting to the news, Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis posted on X: "THE RABBIT FROM THE HAT: He's cutting employee National Insurance rates currently 12% on income between £12,570 and £50,270 to 10%. Someone on average salary will save £450/yr from 6 January 2024.

"This is a tax cut for workers (not for other earnings) which goes some way to cover the cost of freezing the tax thresholds."

Elsewhere in the autumn statement, Mr Hunt confirmed that the Government would be honouring the triple lock on pensions, and increasing state pensions next year.

Under the triple lock – which guarantees an increase in line with average earnings, inflation or 2.5%, whichever is highest - pensions will increase by 8.5 per cent in April.

He told MPs: "The triple lock has helped lift 250,000 older people out of poverty since its inception in 2011.

"It has been a lifeline for many during times of inflation.

"We honour our commitment to the triple lock in full. We will increase the new state pension by 8.5 per cent, worth up to £900 more a year."

Mr Hunt also confirmed the Government would increase Universal Credit and other benefits by 6.7 per cent.

The rise, in line with September's inflation figures, will come into force from April next year, and will be worth an "average increase of £470 for 5.5 million households", the Chancellor said.