The 'mini-budget' and more
It is now confirmed that Liz Truss has sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor of the exchequer. The news came as reports suggest Truss is set to reverse key elements of his ‘mini-budget’.
Kwarteng managed just 38 days in the job, making him the second shortest serving chancellor since the Second World War. In less than six weeks he has nonetheless managed to tank the economy and his time in the role will be regarded as one of the most catastrophic in British political history. These are three of his most disastrous moments.
1. The ‘mini-budget’
In his first major act as chancellor, Kwarteng announced a series of measures to benefit the mega rich on September 23 in his so called ‘mini-budget’. He announced plans to abolish the 45p tax rate on those earning over £150,000 a year, end the cap on bankers’ bonuses and to scrap a planned corporation tax rise.
The ‘mini-budget’ sent markets into chaos, with the Bank of England having to intervene to buy government bonds in order to prevent pension funds from collapsing.
2. The 45p tax rate U-turn
It’s no surprise that the ‘mini-budget’ was succeeded by a series of U-turns, given the economic freefall and the nose-diving poll ratings that followed.
Just 10 days after the ‘mini-budget’, the government announced it would be scrapping its plans to abolish the 45p income tax rate in a humiliating climb down.
3. Blaming the Queen’s death for his own disastrous mini-budget
Quick to make excuses about the chaos his own actions had caused, Kwarteng would go on to blame the death of the Queen for the disastrous policies.
Speaking to GB News, he said, “It was a very quick time that we did it. And so you’ve got to remember the context. I mean, what was extraordinary about that month, was that we had a new Government and also we had the sad passing of the Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
“So we had a nation in mourning. And then literally, four days after the funeral, we had the mini budget, it was high speed, high pressure environments. We could have, as David Cameron used to say, prepared the pitch a bit better.”
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
Image credit: Rory Arnold/Number 10 – Creative Commons
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