Related: Kwasi Kwarteng refuses to comment on possible corporation tax U-turn
Liz Truss has appointed former Conservative leadership contender Jeremy Hunt as the new chancellor of the exchequer and performed a U-turn on corporation tax, signalling a major shift in policy direction after weeks of turmoil in the wake of Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget.
She vowed to see through her low-tax agenda after dramatically sacking Kwasi Kwarteng, who was summoned back from the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in Washington to be given the news, just 24 hours after insisting he would not be resigning.
The prime minister said her mission remained the pursuit of a “low-tax, high-wage, high-growth economy” but accepted parts of the mini-Budget last month went “further and faster” than markets had expected.
Admitting she had to change course, she reversed a key policy to scrap the planned rise in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent.
As well as the U-turn on corporation tax, Ms Truss also signalled a squeeze on public spending, which would “grow less rapidly than previously planned”.
Of Mr Hunt, she said: “He shares my convictions and my ambitions for our country.”
Ms Truss needed to act to stem further market chaos as the Bank of England ended its emergency bond-purchasing scheme.
