Mini-budget went ‘too far, too fast’, says Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Hunt said that Liz Truss’s mini-budget went “too far, too fast” as the new chancellor effectively signalled the demise of the prime minister’s economic vision.
Political and economic circles spent Saturday sizing up Hunt after he used a series of broadcast interviews in the morning to suggest Truss’s immediate economic plan is now largely defunct.
The chancellor, in a statement on Saturday evening, said that his vision would be “growth underpinned by stability”.
Promising “clear and robust plans”, he said: “We have to be honest with people and we are going to have to take some very difficult decisions both on spending and on tax to get debt falling, but at the top of our minds when making these decisions will be how to protect and help struggling families, businesses and people.”
Hunt is also expected to delay a 1p cut in income tax to help plug a black hole in the public finances that had reached £72bn, according to the Sunday Times.
Hunt, who replaced Kwasi Kwarteng in the role yesterday, is expected to announce that plans to reduce the basic rate of income tax next April will be pushed back by a year.
The cut to 19% will now take effect at the time previously proposed by Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor, who was Liz Truss’s main leadership rival.
Earlier, the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, said he spoke to Hunt on Friday after his appointment.
Speaking in Washington, he said the pair had a “meeting of minds” on the issue of “fiscal sustainability” as he noted that the Office of Budget Responsibility is now “very much back in the picture”.
But that came alongside a warning that “inflationary pressures” could lead to another hike in interest rates by bank officials in the near future.
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