Chancellor speaking at Conservative Party conference after tax U-turn

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng faced criticism for their plans to abolish the 45p rate of income tax.

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is delivering his speech to the Conservative Party conference hours after confirming a major tax U-turn.

Kwarteng announced on Monday that the Government would be ditching its plan to abolish the 45p rate of income tax for higher earners.

The chancellor and Prime Minister Liz Truss faced pressure to reverse the decision after a backlash from several Conservative MPs.

In a statement, Kwarteng claimed that the Government had “listened” amid calls for the policy to be dropped.

“It is clear that the abolition of the 45p tax rate has become a distraction from our overriding mission to tackle the challenges facing our country,” he said.

“As a result, I’m announcing we are not proceeding with the abolition of the 45p tax rate. We get it, and we have listened.

“This will allow us to focus on delivering the major parts of our growth package.”

You can follow the Chancellor’s speech on the STV News website here.

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