Liz Truss’s government has abandoned its plan to abolish the 45% top rate of income tax in a humiliating U-turn, after a growing Conservative revolt over the policy and a turbulent reaction from markets.
Announcing the decision in an early morning tweet on Monday, Kwasi Kwarteng said: “We get it, and we have listened.”
The chancellor said the decision to cut tax for people on incomes of £150,000 or more “has become a distraction from our overriding mission to tackle the challenges facing our country”.
He continued: “As a result, I’m announcing we are not proceeding with the abolition of the 45p tax rate.”
But in a round of broadcast interviews hours before he was due to address the Conservative conference in Birmingham, Kwarteng denied his mini-budget 10 days ago had been a mistake, despite its impact on the pound and on the cost of government debt, which in turn has made mortgages more expensive. » | Peter Walker and Virginia Harrison | Monday, October 3, 2022
I should damn well think so too! Giving tax cuts to the superrich at a time when so many people are suffering, having to go to foodbanks to feed their children and many having to choose between heating and eating, would have been totally and utterly unconscionable. – © Mark Alexander
