Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer announced the about face Monday after 10 days of mounting criticism and sent the pound plummeting
Just 10 days after announcing sweeping tax cuts and shrugging off mounting criticism, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer has backtracked and dropped a planned tax break for the wealthiest.
Mr. Kwarteng said he would not resign and he would not admit that the government had made a mistake. “What I admit was that it was a massive distraction on what was a strong package,” he told BBC. He added that other parts of the tax plan would help spur economic growth. While the fall in the top tax rate was only a small part of the mini-budget, it had become a lightning rod for critics who said the government appeared to be tone deaf for handing a benefit to rich people while home heating costs and mortgage rates were rising. Some of the fiercest opposition was coming from Ms. Truss’s fellow Conservatives who have seen public support for the party plunge in opinion polls.
She’d defended the tax plan for days and said on Sunday that she remained totally supportive of eliminating the top tax bracket. “I understand their worries about what happened this week and I stand by the package we announced and I stand by the fact we announced it quickly,” Ms. Truss told the BBC.