27 favourite things people said about Truss and Kwarteng’s humiliating 45p income tax reverse ferret
Kwasi Kwarteng’s abolition of the 45p tax rate was the most controversial aspect of his particularly controversial budget.
But despite wiping $500bn off UK markets and forcing an historic intervention by the Bank of England, Liz Truss and her chancellor spent the last 9 days telling everyone there was no going back on any of it.
And yet today, just as the Tory party conference gets into full swing in Birmingham, they performed the most humiliating reverse ferret.
Jon Kay – Your policy on the top rate of tax has gone?
Kwasi Kwarteng – Absolutely…. #BBCBreakfast pic.twitter.com/uEN6DFGo0m
— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) October 3, 2022
Probably not because it’s the right thing to do, obviously, but because so many Tory MPs were likely to vote against it and potentially bring down the government. Already.
And here’s exactly what people made of that, our 27 favourite responses so far.
1.
Was going to do some wealth creation and growth today but now I feel totally disincentivised.
— Dara Ó Briain (@daraobriain) October 3, 2022
2.
"This has become a distraction and I would like to move on and talk about growth." pic.twitter.com/bQI4VDTAMv
— Hugo Rifkind (@hugorifkind) October 3, 2022
3.
You turn if you want to…
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) October 3, 2022
4.
This time yesterday: "Are you absolutely committed to abolishing the 45p tax rate for the wealthiest people in the country?"
Liz Truss: "yes." pic.twitter.com/1aDlO6Jrfk
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) October 3, 2022
5.
— TechnicallyRon (On all the platforms) (@TechnicallyRon) October 3, 2022
6.
they've neutralised the tax-cuts-for-the-rich issue for now but haven't neutralised the issue that they *wanted* to give tax cuts to the rich
— Jim Pickard 🐋 (@PickardJE) October 3, 2022
7.
What is jarring (to use the Schapps word) is that this such a humbling moment for the government and the chancellor, and yet the tone of @KwasiKwarteng is pure arrogance
— Jon Sopel (@jonsopel) October 3, 2022
8.
Liz Truss, 21 September: "I am prepared to be unpopular."
Liz Truss, 3 October: "I am not prepared to be THIS unpopular." ~AA
— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) October 3, 2022
9.
The good news is that the fortunes made by Kwasi Kwarteng's hedge fund mates will not be affected by our U-turn.#KwasiKwarteng#Uturn
— Parody Rishi Sunak (@Parody_PM) October 3, 2022
10.
You know the party's over when even @thetimes are running cartoons like this one.
Brutal! pic.twitter.com/jSmxf4houI
— Jonathan Pie (@JonathanPieNews) October 2, 2022
11.
Already seen praise for the u-turn, as if they suddenly realised that giving a tax break for millionaires funded by benefits cuts for the poor during a cost of living crisis was bad, rather than they saw the polls and their own MPs rebelling and shat it
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) October 3, 2022
12.
Kwasi Kwarteng repairing the damaged caused by his budget.#KwasiKwarteng#Uturn pic.twitter.com/zr9jI4PF5g
— Parody Rishi Sunak (@Parody_PM) October 3, 2022
13.
Imagine losing 65 billion and keeping your job
— Jolyon Rubinstein (@JolyonRubs) October 3, 2022
14.
I think it's nice that Liz Truss is proving herself as the continuity candidate with her first U-turn 🥰
— Rosie Holt (@RosieisaHolt) October 3, 2022