Liz Truss has just confirmed that she is U-turning on another part of her government’s not-so-mini Budget. After sacking her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng this morning, the Prime Minister used a Downing Street press conference to say that she will now keep the increase in corporation tax, despite promising to ditch it. This ought to raise £18 billion in tax.
Explaining her decision, Truss said that while she still stuck to her vision for the country of a pro-growth government, it had become clear that her government’s fiscal event – which saw a range of unfunded tax cuts announced – ‘went further and faster than the markets were expecting’.
The PM said she wanted to see out what she had ‘promised’
As a result, she said, ‘I have decided to keep the increase in corporation task as agreed by the previous Government.’ Given reversing the corporation tax increase was a flagship policy of Truss’s leadership campaign, this is an incredibly embarrassing climbdown.
Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in