Kwasi Kwarteng will seek to calm the markets, defend his plan to boost UK economic growth and secure his position as Chancellor in a crunch Conservative Party conference speech. The Chancellor’s mini-budget triggered turmoil in the City, was criticised by the International Monetary Fund and resulted in a £65 billion emergency intervention by the Bank of England to restore order.
But he will tell activists today that “we must stay the course” with his plans to avoid a future of “slow, managed decline”. The plan to axe the 45% income tax rate for top earners and scrap the curbs on bankers’ bonuses at a time when many households face a cost-of-living crisis has been condemned by political opponents and Tory critics, with Mr Kwarteng bearing the brunt of the criticism.
Prime Minister Liz Truss was accused of throwing Mr Kwarteng under a bus by singling him out as responsible for the tax cut, saying “it was a decision the Chancellor made”, rather than one debated by the entire Cabinet. In his speech in Birmingham, Mr Kwarteng will insist the gamble made by the Tories to cut taxes and axe red tape in the hope of increasing economic growth to an annual trend of 2.5% was the correct approach.
