Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have been accused of being “incompetent” and having “lost all credibility” after a dramatic U-turn on plans to scrap the top rate of income tax for the highest earners.
The Chancellor confirmed on Monday morning that the Conservative Government was abandoning heavily-criticised proposals to remove the 45% rate on earnings over £150,000, less than two weeks after the tax cut was announced in his mini-budget. Catherine McKinnell, the Labour MP for Newcastle North, said that while she thought the move was “the right decision, the damage is already done”.
She added: “Handing out tax cuts to the wealthiest during a cost of living crisis showed very clearly whose side the Conservatives are on, regardless of this screeching u-turn. Merely weeks in office, the Truss Government has lost all credibility. Only yesterday the Prime Minister and countless ministers were pledging to stick with their tax cut. We cannot afford more of this chaos at the heart of government.”
