Kwasi Kwarteng says his radical tax slashing Budget will help all Brits “not just the wealthy”

ON Friday, I set out our tax-cutting Growth Plan. This is the first step towards igniting growth across the UK, with ambitious reforms to boost our economy.

For too long, we haven’t reached our full potential, leading to lower living standards, higher taxes, and less money for public services. This had to change.

UK PARLIAMENT

Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng delivers his mini-budget in the House of Commons, London[/caption]

We’ve said this is a new era and that demands a new approach. 

There are skilled people and pioneering businesses around the UK who are just waiting for someone to back them to succeed. We look forward to proving the naysayers wrong.

I’m on a mission to encourage investment and drive growth, even where that means making hard decisions. 

I want to remove barriers to innovation and investment and let businesses get on with it. 

That is the way to create jobs, improve living standards for all and raise the money we need to pay for our valued public services.

And that’s why we’re reversing the increase in National Insurance, saving hard-working Brits £330 a year on average.

We’re cutting the basic rate of income tax to 19% in April so that 28 million people will have on average £170 more in their pocket. 

These changes mean someone earning £30,000 will pay £400 less tax next year.

To boost British business, the National Insurance cut will also save almost a million companies nearly £10,000 on average next year – money they can use to hire more, pay more, and grow. 

But to do more in this globally competitive race, we’re cancelling the planned increase in Corporation Tax and giving more generous tax breaks for business investment. I want companies to set up shop in the UK, not abroad. 

There’s good news for pubs and breweries too. By freezing tax on alcohol, we’re saving people 7p on a pint of beer, 4p on a pint of cider, 38p on a bottle of wine and £1.35 on a bottle of spirits.

And we’re helping more people achieve the dream of home ownership by cutting Stamp Duty so that anyone buying a first home for less than £425,000 won’t have to pay it.

Some people will complain, but I’m not going to apologise for taking decisive action to turn the economy around for the whole UK. With our Growth Plan, everyone benefits. 

Remember, these tax cuts come just ten days after we stepped in to cap energy costs. Without this action, the average annual energy bill could have reached £6,500 next year. Thanks to our intervention, bills will be capped at £2,500 for two years. 

For extra support for households, people will still get a £400 payment towards energy bills in the autumn, and 8 million low income and vulnerable households are eligible for extra payments to help with the cost of living, saving them at least £2,200 this year overall.

We are helping people face the price rises caused by once-in-a-generation global challenges, at the same time as breaking the poisonous cycle of high taxes and sluggish growth.

This Prime Minister has promised to take a new approach to the economy and prioritise growth to unleash the UK’s potential. 

With our Growth Plan, we are delivering on that promise to deliver higher wages, more opportunity, and the money to pay for our public services now, and far into the future.

I know it’s a tough economic time for many Sun readers. But I want to reassure you that with our growth plan everyone wins. This is a plan that cuts taxes for all, not just the wealthy.

We have got your backs. And with this intervention, we will turbocharge the economy, creating more businesses, jobs and raised living standards which will directly benefit every single person.