Anatomy of a Tory Party U-turn

Sep 6: Liz Truss (left) becomes British prime minister
    
Sep 8: Kwasi Kwarteng (right), Truss’ new chancellor, sacks Treasury permanent secretary Sir Tom Scholar
   
Sep 23: Kwarteng unveils “mini-budget” with £45 billion (€51.5bn) in unfunded tax cuts.
Plan to eliminate 45p top income tax rate of Britain’s richest one percent – 600,000 people earning more than £150,000 (€171,700) – would hand out some £10,000 (€11,450) a year
 
Sep 26: Sterling hits record low against U.S. dollar. Price of Government borrowing soars as investors dump UK bonds.
Yields on 30-year gilts hit more than 5% – highest rate in 20 years

£1 = $1.035

Sep 28: Bank of England launches emergency £65 billion (€74.4bn) Government bond-buying programme after sell-off in gilts market leaves some pension funds on brink of collapse and disrupts mortgage rates

Sep 29: Shock poll puts Labour on massive 33-point lead over Conservatives

YouGov/Times vote intention
(poll of 1,712 adults, Sep 28-29)
CONSERVATIVE 21%
LABOUR 54%

Sep 30: Truss and Kwarteng summon Office of Budget Responsibility to meeting.
OBR says it will deliver economic forecast by October 7

Oct 1: Conservative conference kicks off in Birmingham

Oct 2: Truss is quizzed on BBC over her commitment to abolishing 45p tax rate. Truss replies “Yes”

Oct 3: Kwarteng issues statement saying tax cut has become “distraction” and Government will U-turn. “We get it, and we have listened”        
   
Kwarteng and Truss could now come under pressure to reverse other unfunded tax cuts, e.g. £13bn (€14.9bn) reduction in national insurance, which gives most significant benefit to better-off voters, and £17bn (€19.5bn) plan to reverse corporation tax rise

  
Sources: Financial Times, Institute for Government, Reuters 
Pictures: Getty Images 
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