Labour leaders in Greater Manchester have been reacting with anger to the mini-budget announced by the government this morning. Kwasi Kwarteng lifted the cap on bankers bonuses and scrapped the highest tax rate for those earning £150k a year, as well as a raft of other tax cuts, in a controversial budget today.
From April, the 660,000 earners getting more than £150,000 a year will no longer pay the top income tax rate of 45% and will instead pay the 40% applicable to those on more than £50,271 - meaning they will each reportedly save on average around £10,000 in tax a year.
Using more than £70 billion of increased borrowing, Mr Kwarteng also brought forward a planned cut to the basic rate of income tax to 19p in the pound a year early to April and reduced stamp duty for homebuyers. He argued tax cuts are “central to solving the riddle of growth” as he also added restrictions to the welfare system.
