Liz defends tax cuts that help ‘wealth creators’
Senior Conservatives say that’s the magic number needed for their backbench shop steward
Sir Graham Brady to tell her she must consider her position.
One rebel said: “A flurry of no-confidence letters into Sir Graham would be enough to force him to act. We know this is the nuclear
LIZ Truss yesterday defended giving 2,500 millionaires a £1billion bung in tax cuts.
On the eve of the Tory Party conference in Birmingham, the PM said: “We believe in making it easier for our wealth creators, doers and makers to get things
done. Britain’s economy needs a reset. We cannot continue on the current trajectory of managed decline.
“We must take a new direction.” Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng sent the pound plunging and markets into turmoil by scrapping the 45p
top tax rate in his mini-budget. Half the £2billion cost will go to just 2,500 fat cats earning more than £3.5million.
It will give them a windfall of at least £175,000 each.
And yesterday Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke warned the British people that they
were in for a new round of austerity to pay for it.
He told The Times: “Western Europe is living in a fool’s paradise whereby we can be ever less productive, and yet still enjoy a very large welfare state and persist in thinking that the two are somehow compatible.
They’re not. We need to address that.” In the wake of that threat the finance ministers of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland demanded an urgent meeting with the Chancellor over “the largest set of unfunded tax cuts for the rich in over 50 years”. Yesterday Ms
Truss finally admitted that the mini-budget had caused “disruption in the short term”. But last night she insisted: “I will lead us down the path to a better future.” The conference at the International Convention Centre will open at 4pm today under the slogan “Getting
Britain Moving”. It will begin with tributes to the Queen followed by a speech from Defence Secretary Ben Wallace. Ms Truss’s big speech on Wednesday will focus on trying to convince delegates that she is not trashing the economy.