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Jeremy Hunt New British Prime Minister Appointed by Prime Minister Liz Truss fired her friend Kwasi Kwarteng In a bid to quell the ongoing economic and political crisis, Saturday acknowledged his predecessor’s mistakes and marked a reversal of his approach to tax cuts.
Hunt, a former Conservative leadership contender who has been dubbed the most powerful man in the UK government as Truss struggles to win back her credibility, also said all state government departments must cut spending in response to severe economic situation. climate.
He conceded that Kwarteng’s small budget proposed late last month had “two mistakes” – a 45p tax cut for the top earners, before the announcement was withdrawn and the tax cut announced without independent costing. Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR).
“The way we’re doing it is obviously not right and that’s why I’m sitting here right now,” he told BBC.
“Taxes are not going to go down as people would like, some taxes will have to go up. I will ask all government departments to look for additional efficiency savings,” he said.
It marks a reversal of the central theme of tax cuts for Truss, who had won a Conservative leadership race against the former prime minister in her campaign. Rishi Sunak.
It means the turmoil at the top of the British government is far from over, with disaffected Tory rebels and Sunak loyalists defiantly opposing her in various U-turns by the new leader. The fact that she sacked Kwarteng after only 38 days in office because of the policies she announced in her campaign’s small budget was seen as an attempt to place the blame entirely on him for the ensuing chaos in financial markets.
Conservative MP Andrew Briggan, who backed Sunak in the leadership race, said he believed there would be “a challenge for Truss in the coming weeks”.
“The dissatisfaction within the parliamentary party is so high. Removing Kwasi Kwarteng while she implements the policies she asked him to implement will not generate loyalty to her,” he said.
Former Conservative leader William Hague also said Truss’ leadership was “up in the air”. It’s hard to find Tory MPs who don’t believe Truss’ days at 10 Downing Street are numbered, according to party insiders.
“We can’t force another prime minister to step down, we just need to calm down and try to support the prime minister,” said Tory MP and Truss supporter Christopher Chope.
Truss herself has insisted that she will stay on as prime minister to drive economic growth.
She told a Downing Street news conference on Friday: “I’m absolutely determined to deliver on my promise – to deliver a higher growth, more prosperous Britain and get us through the storm we face – which has been dubbed recent history. For the shortest period, she turned a deaf ear to questions about her resignation.
It happened at the end of a dramatic day, starting with Kwarteng flying back early from his trip to Washington and wrapping up one of the shortest trips to 11 Downing Street as UK Treasurer.
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