Cabinet rift deepens as Braverman hits out against Truss’ tax U-turn
Liz Truss is facing very public cabinet splits just a month into her premiership, with two senior ministers today hitting out against her tax cut U-turn.
Home secretary Suella Braverman today said she was “disappointed by the subsequent reversal” in the decision to cut the top 45p rate of Income tax and housing secretary Simon Clarke backed the comment.
Clarke tweeted that “Suella speaks a lot of sense, as usual”.
It comes after Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt and Welsh secretary Robert Buckland freestyled on policy this morning and said she was not in favour of real terms benefit cuts.
Truss is also facing a backbench rebellion over whether to increase benefits in line with inflation, after it has been rumoured this policy could be scrapped to reduce government spending.
The Prime Minister defended the tax U-turn today by saying the abolition of the 45p Income Tax bracket, announced less than two weeks ago in a mini-Budget, was never a “priority policy”.
The governmeent’s mini-Budget sent financial markets into turmoil and saw the Tories’ poll ratings dramatically slide against Labour to record lows.
The fiscal announcement included more than £45bn of debt-funded tax cuts and came after a more than £100bn package of energy support was also funded by more government borowing.
Braverman told an event at the Conservative party that she was still in favour of cutting the top rate of Income Tax for those earning £150,000 a year or more.
“I am disappointed by the subsequent reversal,” she said
“I am disappointed that members of our party staged a coup and undermined the PM in an unprofessional way.”
The Prime Minister said she does “support a lower, simpler tax system”, but that “what we couldn’t allow is a fairly minor part of the package to become a distraction”.
Truss today told the BBC: “I want us to be a competitive country, but I have listened to feedback. I want to take people with me.
“Yes, we are going to have to make tough decisions. Yes, we’re going into a tough winter. Yes, times are difficult.
“But fundamentally, you know, if people are concerned about something which was a distraction from the major policies, which I’ve outlined, like the energy price guarantee, like keeping taxes low, like getting the economy moving, I felt it was wrong to allow that distraction to continue from the major parts of our package because that is not a reflection of what my priorities are.”