A string of u-turns by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt today should be the death knell for the mantra of tax cuts for big business and the wealthy.
Speaking in response to the Chancellor’s mini-budget Tax Justice UK Head of Advocacy, Tom Peters, said:
“While it’s good that the Chancellor has reversed course today, we are now standing in the wreckage of the low tax, small state ideology, with the prospect of another round of austerity 2.0 to come.
“It must be obvious by now that these same old tricks don’t work. The public are terrified of the cost of living crisis and do not want to see public services cut anymore.
“We need to tax wealth. This government could start by following Margaret Thatcher’s example and align capital gains with income tax rates. It should end the inheritance tax loopholes open to the already wealthy. Finally it needs to tax the wealth of anyone with £10 million assets.”
In his statement the new Chancellor said planned cuts to National Insurance Contributions and Stamp Duty would go ahead.
However, he rowed back on a string of tax cuts announced by former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng MP, including a 19% cut to the basic rate of income tax rate. The decision comes after plans to cut the higher rate of income tax and plans to increase corporation tax were reaffirmed last week.