It wasn’t supposed to be like this. In his first Conservative conference speech as Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng wanted to double down on his budget and set out a vision for a growing, thriving economy. But since its announcement ten days ago, a poor market reaction and soaring borrowing costs have diminished the Chancellor’s reputation. So much so that this morning (3 October) he dismantled a key pillar of the Budget: the abolition of the 45p top rate of tax.
Nonetheless, Kwarteng’s speech made clear that he would continue in the same vein. He acknowledged there had been a “little turbulence” in recent days but said “we need to focus on the job in hand; we need to move forward. No more distractions.” Is the Bank of England’s emergency £65bn intervention last week a mere distraction?
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