UK government U-turns on proposed tax cut for high earners

London, Oct 3 (EFE).- The United Kingdom’s government on Monday announced a U-turn on its plans to slash the tax rate for high earners from 45 to 40% following a backlash from Conservative Party lawmakers.

“It is clear that the abolition of the 45p tax rate has become a distraction from our overriding mission to tackle the challenges facing our economy,” the chancellor of the exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, said in a statement.

As a result, I am announcing that we are not proceeding with the abolition of the 45p tax rate. We get it, and we have listened.”

Kwarteng’s so-called mini budget plan, presented September 23, sparked chaos in the markets amid concerns over how the government would manage the public debt incurred by the tax cut for high earners.

Prime minister Liz Truss, who has been in power for less than a month, had defended the mini budget until Sunday although made clear that the tax cut proposal had been designed by Kwarteng.

The U-turn on the measure came just hours before Kwarteng was due to address the Conservative Party’s annual conference. British media reported that the chancellor had come under increasing pressure as members of his own party threatened to vote against the budget in parliament. EFE

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