The UK government has announced massive tax cuts as part of a mini-budget worth billions of pounds. New Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng revealed new plans on Friday which will see the top 45% rate of tax in the UK scrapped and the basic rate fall to 19% next year.
The measures, billed as the biggest tax giveaway in 30 years, also see a reversal of the rise in National Insurance, universal credit rules tightened for low-income households and the cap on bankers' bonuses lifted. Mr Kwarteng said the plans were aimed at growing the economy by 2.5% but critics say the borrowing needed to fund the tax cuts could lead to financial disaster in the UK, which is already seeing its highest rate of inflation in four decades. The value of the pound fell sharply on Friday and the cost of UK government borrowing rose.
Among the announcements are that April's National Insurance hike is to be reversed from November 6. The 1.25 percentage point increase was introduced under former chancellor Rishi Sunak but during the Tory leadership race Liz Truss pledged to change it.
