KWASI Kwarteng came out fighting for his mini-Budget today – vowing to “stick to the growth plan” despite market turmoil.
The Chancellor insisted he would stay true to his top two priorities – working towards to growing the economy and helping struggling families pay energy bills.
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The Chancellor added that he’s focussed on “making sure that people right across this country are protected”.
Visiting local businesses in Darlington today, he insisted: “We are sticking to the growth plan and we are going to help people with energy bills. That’s my two top priorities.”
And he said the government’s growth plan is “absolutely essential” for keeping public services like schools and the NHS running.
Mr Kwarteng said: “Without growth you’re not going to get the public services – we’re not going to generate the income and the tax revenue to pay for the public services that we want to see.
“That’s why the mini budget was absolutely essential in resetting the debate around growth.”
Hours ago Liz Truss similarly pledged to stick by her government’s £45bn tax slashing agenda – despite it triggering market chaos.
The PM told BBC local radio stations she needed to make “controversial and difficult decisions” on Britain’s finances to get the country through a tough winter.
And she insisted imposing massive tax cuts “is the right plan” for the country.
The defiant PM said: “I think we have to look at the situation we would be facing if the government hadn’t acted.
“We’ve taken action by stepping in and making sure no one is paying fuel bills more than £2,500.“
The PM blasted the idea that the government should make any u-turns on last Friday’s mini budget announcements.
Among the most controversial measures were slashing the 45p top tax rate and binning the cap on bankers’ bonuses.
While a number of Tory MPs blasted the the 45p cut, others stood by their party leader and said people need be patient and wait for the huge benefits of it to kick in.
Yesterday, pension funds holding £1trillion of British savings were narrowly saved from disaster days after the mini-Budget tax bonfire was announced last week.
Fears around the health of the economy caused the biggest sell-off of long-term government debt to the Bank of England since the 1990s recession.
And mortgage panic ramped up with lenders pulling 1,000 deals in 24 hours amid fears interest rates could reach six per cent.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 Index was hit by volatility amid the selling off of bonds and wider global recession fears.
The chaos below the surface of the economy was similar to that seen with Northern Rock in the early days of the 2007/8 financial crisis.
The PM blamed turbulence in the economy on Mad Vlad Putin’s war in Ukraine.
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She said that Britain should never have got to a position where it became reliant on authoritarian tyrants for energy.
That, she insisted, is the partly why the government had to make such a major intervention.
“It is unconscionable that we allowed this to happen and allowed people to face that fear that they won’t be able to pay their bills,” Ms Truss said.
