OPINION - The Leader podcast: UK Government’s mini-budget explained
The UK’s new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has revealed his first economic measures for the company, announcing a mini budget representing the biggest tax cuts of any budget since 1972.
Some of the measures include knocking 1% off the basic rate of income tax from April next year, increasing the level at which home buyers pay stamp duty from £125,000 to £250,000, axing the national insurance rise, and scrapping the cap on bankers bonuses.
He has also opted to keep Corporation Tax at 19%, scrapping a planned rise, and is introducing VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors.
The mini-budget was met with a sharp drop in the pound to a fresh 37-year low shortly after the Chancellor’s announcement.
We speak with Fran Boait from Positive Money, a not-for-profit research and campaigning organisation based in London. She discusses whether ‘trickle-down’ economics works, why the government hasn’t opted for another windfall tax on energy firms, and whether we need to rethink our obsession with GDP growth.
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