Jeremy Hunt shreds Truss’s economic plans in astounding U-turn on tax
Jeremy Hunt has shredded Liz Truss’s economic plans in one of the most astonishing U-turns in modern political history, including slashing the energy price freeze which the prime minister had repeatedly championed.
The new chancellor dismantled almost all of the platform that Truss’s leadership victory had been built on, including the majority of her tax cuts, and hinted a new windfall tax was in his sights – a move the PM had previously said she would not countenance.
Hunt also refused to rule out cuts to totemic Conservative pledges, including defence spending and the pensions triple lock.
Truss declined to appear at the dispatch box in parliament on Monday despite calls from Labour, leading one cabinet minister to clarify she was not “hiding under a desk”.
With her premiership in grave doubt, Downing Street sources told the Guardian that Truss met Sir Graham Brady, the powerful chair of the 1922 Committee, where they discussed the scale of MPs’ anger.
A new poll from Redfield & Wilton gave Labour a 36-point lead, the largest for any political party from any polling company since October 1997.
In a statement on Monday morning, Hunt said the 20p basic tax rate would remain indefinitely and reversed a swathe of other tax measures, including changes to dividend taxes, a VAT-free shopping scheme and a freeze on some alcohol duties.
But the biggest shock came when the chancellor said he would no longer guarantee energy prices for the next two winters and that more targeted measures would replace the universal guarantee from next spring after a Treasury review.
It means the average annual energy bill will rise to more than £4,000 from April, according to the sector’s leading forecaster, and analysts said it could lead to a rise of
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