Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Wales Online
Wales Online
National
Cathy Owen

Mark Drakeford accuses Liz Truss of being the 'architect of her own misfortunes' and calls for stability

Wales' First Minister has said that Prime Minister is the "architect of her own misfortunes" as he reacted to news that Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng had been sacked. Mark Drakeford gave his reaction after Liz Truss held an eight-minute press conference that only saw three questions from journalists.

He called for "stability" after a turbulent day of U-turns and the sacking of the Prime Minister's closest ally. You can catch up on live updates from throughout the day here.

On Friday afternoon, Ms Truss announced another U-turn on the flagship corporation tax cut that was announced in the mini-Budget last month, and confirmed that Jeremy Hunt would be the fourth Chancellor since July.

Read next: Liz Truss has not spoken to Mark Drakeford since becoming PM

Her Government will hike corporation tax by more than £19 billion for big companies across the UK, after three weeks of pressure following Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's fiscal statement.

His announcement in September would have cancelled the plan introduced by former chancellor Rishi Sunak to bring the corporation tax rate to 25% in April next year, from 19% currently. The rate is levied on businesses with more than £250,000 in profits every year.

Reacting to the news, Mr Drakeford said: "The Prime Minister is the architect of her own misfortunes. It is her decisions that have led to the confusion and chaos that has put more pressure on families struggling with the cost-of-living.

"We now need stability and certainty to help people and businesses through this crisis."

Ms Truss said: "I have... decided to keep the increase in corporation tax that was planned by the previous government."

Mr Sunak said at the time that the government needed the money to help balance the books after massive spending during the pandemic to prop up jobs and keep businesses going.

But on the Tory leadership campaign trail in July, Ms Truss promised she would cancel the planned hike.

In the mini-budget three weeks ago, it was one of a raft of tax cuts - or scrapped tax rises - that Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng promised.

They also vowed to scrap the additional rate of income tax, something that will cost around £2 billion a year.

The Government has now U-turned on both of these policies after their unfunded tax cuts sparked market turmoil.

It means ministers have rowed back on a little under half of the changes announced in the mini-budget.

The pound and UK Government bonds came back under pressure despite the Prime Minister's decision to reverse corporation tax.

The pound fell back after a brief press conference which announced the reversal on corporation tax as the only major change to fiscal policy.

Liz Truss reaffirmed plans to outline the Government's fiscal strategy on October 31, alongside projection by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

After 3pm on Friday, the pound swung 1.2% lower at 1.119 against the US dollar.

Read next:

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.