Kwasi Kwarteng tries to laugh off U-turn on abolishing top rate of tax

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

73% : Mr Kwarteng stressed the decisions had been taken with the PM, while saying he was 'contrite' and 'owned' the embarrassing reversal Michael Gove - who has a history of wielding the political knife, having turned on David Cameron over Brexit before torching Boris Johnson's first leadership bid in 2016 - set out on an epic round of appearances at events on the conference fringe Mr Gove - who has a history of wielding the political knife, having turned on David Cameron over Brexit before torching Boris Johnson's first leadership bid in 2016 - then set out on an epic round of appearances at events on the conference fringe.
54% : Everyone earning more than £12,571 a year has money taken from their salary in the form of income tax, which the Government uses to fund public services.
52% : This does not include other taxes such as National Insurance.
52% : Someone earning £25,000 currently pays £2,486 in income tax - under the new rules this would drop to £2,361.70, a saving of just over £124.
49% : Julian Jessop tweeted: 'It is hard to think of anything more toxic than cutting the real value of benefits at the same time as lowering the top rate of income tax to 40p.'
49% : Julian Jessop tweeted: 'It is hard to think of anything more toxic than cutting the real value of benefits at the same time as lowering the top rate of income tax to 40p.'
49% : 45p tax rate explained: Q&A as Kwasi Kwarteng scraps plan to remove top rate of income tax on those earning above £150,000 from April next year Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced he is scrapping plans to remove the 45% rate of income tax on those earning more than £150,000.
49% : The 45p rate of tax applies to people earning more than £150,000 a year.
48% : The cut in income tax would have saved high earners thousands of pounds a year during the cost of living crisis What was in the Chancellor's 'mini-budget'? Last week Mr Kwarteng announced a 'mini-budget' of measures he said would improve growth and lead to people keeping more of their money.
48% : He also announced the reversal of the 1.25% in National Insurance that had come into effect in April this year under previous Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
47% : Kwasi Kwarteng tried to laugh off the extraordinary climbdown on plans to scrap the top rate of tax as he delivered his Tory conference speech tonight.
46% : The drop in the Basic rate of tax from 20% to 19%, which has not been scrapped, will affect millions of households.
45% : The Chancellor announced that from April 2023 the Basic rate of income tax would be slashed from 20% to 19%, instead of April 2024 as was previously mooted.
44% : What is income tax?
42% : The decision to renege on the unpopular move to scrap the highest band of income tax also helped ease pressure on UK government bonds.
42% : What is the 45p rate of tax and who pays it?
31% : 'Unless he also U-turns on some of his other, much larger tax announcements, he will have no option but to consider cuts to public spending: to social security, investment projects, or public services.'

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