British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Monday apologized for policy “mistakes” and pushing “too far too fast” with reforms that triggered economic turmoil, and caused investor confidence to erode, but she vowed to remain leader despite a series of humiliating climbdowns.
“I do want to accept responsibility and say sorry for the mistakes that have been made… we went too far and too fast,” she told the BBC.
Despite doubts over who was now in charge of government policy, she stated that she was “completely committed to delivering for this country.”
To avoid further market turmoil, Truss’s government on Monday scrapped almost all of the debt-fueled tax cuts it announced last month.
The shocking move by new finance minister Jeremy Hunt – who was appointed on Friday to replace Kwasi Kwarteng – puts Truss’s position in jeopardy, with Conservative MP Roger Gale claiming that Hunt was “de facto prime minister.”
The major U-turn includes reversing the cut in the lowest income tax rate from 20% to 19%, as well as dividend tax rate reductions, the reversal of off-payroll working reforms, VAT claim-backs for tourists, and the freezing of alcohol duty rates.
Hunt projected that the tax reforms would generate approximately £32 billion per year.
The only fiscal measures left over from previous finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng are the cancellation of a planned 1.25% increase in National Insurance, general taxation, and a cut in taxes paid on property purchases.
