Truss and Kwarteng borrow their way to tax cuts

Levelling Up secretary Simon Clarke described today’s fiscal event as a ‘game changer’ for Britain’s economy. Was he right?

The announcement from Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was not so much an ‘event’ as a major Budget, which ushered in £45 billion worth of tax cuts – the ‘biggest tax cutting event since 1972’, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

It’s a remarkable tax-cutting Budget, with praise coming in thick and fast from the free-market think tanks

All that was expected was announced: the National Insurance levy brought in for health and social care – which came in back in April – will be scrapped from 6 November. The planned corporation tax rise for big, profitable businesses will not go ahead: the rate will stay at 19 per cent, ‘the lowest rate of corporation tax in the G20’, according to Kwarteng.

The bankers’ bonus cap has been scrapped, with Kwasi defending the decision on the basis that it only harmed the UK’s ability to attract and keep talent.