A mini-budget will be delivered by new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng next Friday (September 23). The so-called 'fiscal event' will see Mr Kwarteng announce more information about the energy cap that was announced last week by Prime Minister Liz Truss.
The Chancellor is also set to give more details about tax cuts, including reversing April's increase in national insurance, after the new prime minister made taxation a centrepiece of her Tory leadership campaign, the Mirror reports. Mr Kwarteng has today come under fire for considering scrapping the cap on bankers’ bonuses, as millions struggle during the cost-of-living crisis.
Unions and economists were among those criticising the timing of the proposal to remove the cap, introduced in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, that limits annual pay-outs to twice a banker’s salary.
Sources close to Mr Kwarteng said no final decisions had been made, but suggested such a move as part of a wider post-Brexit overhaul of City regulations would make London a more attractive place for global banks. The 'fiscal event' comes as Downing Street is actively looking to curb the time Members will spend away from the Commons over the coming weeks.
Ministers may ask MPs to sit a day longer than planned before breaking for recess as Mr Kwarteng prepares to set out his mini-budget to help provide households and businesses with support. They would then be asked to return more swiftly after the party conferences, for which they take an annual break from Westminster.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said on Wednesday: “We are looking at changing the recess dates.”
One option for the Government is to ask the Commons to sit until the end of September 23, before breaking in time for the Labour Party conference in Liverpool that weekend.
MPs are currently scheduled to return on October 17, but with the Conservative Party conference finishing on October 5 and the SNP’s on October 10, there is scope for them to hurry back sooner. Advice on how No 10 wants to alter the recess period is expected to come towards the end of this week.
