Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have abandoned plan to scrap the 45p rate of income tax for top earners in a dramatic U-turn.
Following growing opposition from both within and outside of the Conservative Party, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has ditched the plans unveiled only 10 days ago as a centrepiece of his 'mini-Budget.' In a statement released this morning, he said that “it is clear that the abolition of the 45p tax rate has become a distraction from our overriding mission to tackle the challenges facing our country”.
Former Cabinet Ministers Michael Gove and Grant Shapps had been among those opposing the plans and the new Conservative leadership was facing an embarrassing defeat only a few weeks into the new administration. Just hours before he had been due to defend the plans at the Conservative Party conference, he issued a statement saying: “We are not proceeding with the abolition of the 45p tax rate. We get it, and we have listened.”
