‘Carried away’: Kwasi Kwarteng admits Truss government ‘blew it’ over mini-budget December 10, 2022 Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has admitted that Liz Truss’s government “blew it” when it came to the economic reforms proposed in the mini-budget. “People got carried away, myself included,” he told the Financial Times. “There was a brief moment and the people in charge, myself included, blew it.” Kwarteng was ousted from government after he [...]
Optimism abounds in OBR forecasts, but just how feasible are they? November 28, 2022 When former Tory chancellor George Osborne created the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) in 2010, he was unlikely to have envisioned it would become the source of financial market turmoil. But, that upheaval was not the budget watchdog’s fault. Instead, it was former prime minister Liz Truss and ex-Number 11 incumbent Kwasi Kwarteng’s disdain toward [...]
Kwarteng breaks silence: I told Truss to ‘slow down’ or last a few weeks – she quit six days later November 11, 2022 Kwasi Kwarteng has broken his silence on Liz Truss’ 42-day tenure as prime minister, saying he warned her to “slow down” and predicted her downfall just a few days later. In his first interview since being sacked on 14 October, after just 38 days in charge of the pursestrings, he said the PM’s problem was [...]
Truss and Kwarteng did not brief BoE on mini-budget, dep governor Cunliffe says October 19, 2022 Liz Truss or former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng did not tell the Bank of England of their plans to slash taxes £45bn in last month’s botched mini-budget, one of the central bank’s executives said today. Sir Jon Cunliffe, the Bank’s deputy governor of financial stability, told the treasury select committee today the government did not brief [...]
Hunt mini-budget overhaul right for now but investment relief needed, Thatcherites urge October 19, 2022 New chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s decision to junk pretty much all of prime minister Liz Truss’s botched mini-budget has damaged the UK’s tax competitiveness, a new report out today says. Britain has dropped to 33rd out of the 38 nations part of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as a result of Hunt’s tax [...]
UK borrowing costs fall below US, Italian and Greek equivalents after Hunt mini-budget reversal October 18, 2022 UK borrowing costs have dropped below their European and transatlantic counterparts after new chancellor Jeremy Hunt tore up prime minister Liz Truss’s tax cutting mini-budget. Since Truss and her former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng decided to launch £45bn of unfunded tax cuts in a bid to boost economic growth, gilt yields have shot higher. Rates on [...]
Hunt to make statement on fiscal plan TODAY in bid to calm markets October 17, 2022 Jeremy Hunt will make an announcement today in Parliament about the government’s so-called Medium-Term Fiscal Plan. The chancellor’s statement is a bid to calm the markets, bringing forward the details of the now much-derided mini-budget, outlined by his predecessor. Hunt will issue his plans later today and also speak in the House of Commons this afternoon. [...]
October 15, 2022 Prime minister Liz Truss and former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng “behaved like two gamblers in a casino” over the UK economy, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has said today. Kwarteng was yesterday ousted by the new prime minister, making him the second shortest-running chancellor in the UK’s history. Succeeding Kwarteng is Jeremy Hunt, who this morning [...]
Analysis: Truss can’t buck the markets October 14, 2022 Around eight minutes is how long prime minister Liz Truss today allocated to explain why she sacked her chancellor for implementing her tax cuts and signed off her second mini budget U-turn. She clarified neither. She answered four questions and committed to her “mission” to boost growth in the UK at a Downing Street press [...]
Liz Truss U-turns on mini budget plans to reverse corporation tax hike October 14, 2022 Liz Truss signed off another U-turn today, rolling back on plans to reverse corporation tax rising to 25 per cent from 19 per cent. The move marks a second embarrassing climb down from the government’s tax cutting mini budget, which was characterised by Truss and former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as their blueprint for growth. Financial [...]