Labour brands Truss and Kwarteng 'reckless and irresponsible' over tax-slashing plan

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng have been branded “reckless and irresponsible” by a Labour frontbencher for announcing tax cuts that benefit Britain’s rich in the middle of a cost-of-living emergency.

Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor and a former economist at the Bank of England, said the UK’s biggest tax cuts in half a century have already wreaked havoc on financial markets and would disproportionally benefit high earners.

Ms Reeves accused the prime minister and chancellor of “behaving like two gamblers in a casino chasing a losing run” with their financial package unveiled last week. Ms Reeves said the Tory government should be mindful of how tax cuts will affect financial markets and also public opinion. The plan unveiled in the mini-budget on Friday put markets into a spin and sent the pound spiralling to a record low.

Ms Reeves backed Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s statement that he would reinstate the 45 per cent top rate of income tax if he were in government. Mr Kwarteng last week announced that the top 45p ($0.48) income tax rate on earnings of more than £150,000 a year will be scrapped, leaving the highest rate at 40p.

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