Tory chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will deliver his emergency mini-budget to bring in tax cuts and winter fuel relief for millions of people a week on Friday, after the Queen’s funeral.
The chancellor is expected to unveil further details of the energy price cap that was announced last week by Truss just as news of the Queen’s demise broke.
Kwarteng is also expected to focus on tax cuts, including reversing April’s increase in national insurance which Truss made the centrepiece of her campaign for the Tory leadership.
The move will disproportionately benefit richer households, which Truss said was “fair” during campaign interviews.
The chancellor is also set to scrap a planned rise in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent in April 2023 in a move that will cost the Treasury billions of pounds.
He is also considering a plan to scrap limits on bankers’ bonuses in a move that has already sparked a backlash from trade unions and opponents.
Although normal politics has been paralysed by the death of the Queen, the chancellor and his team have been putting the final touches to the budget with the aim of announcing it once the country emerges from national mourning.
With Prime Minister Liz Truss expected to be at the UN general assembly in New York next week and the government also planning to set out its priorities for the NHS, there was limited time available for the fiscal event, effectively a mini-budget.
Truss announced a £2,500 cap on energy bills for the average household in response to rocketing energy prices, but faced criticism for failing to outline a cost for the intervention.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
