London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, Jun 21, 2025

RIP Trussonomics: New UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tears up Liz Truss’ entire agenda

RIP Trussonomics: New UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tears up Liz Truss’ entire agenda

Most strikingly, planned cut to basic rate of income tax will be put on hold ‘indefinitely.’

In a brief, five-minute televised statement, Jeremy Hunt read the last rites on Trussonomics.

After weeks of market turmoil following U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss’ controversial tax-cutting budget of September 23, her hastily-appointed replacement chancellor on Monday morning pulled the plug on her entire blueprint for growth.

“Growth requires confidence and stability,” Hunt said, in a clear admission Truss has been unable to provide either since her appointment as prime minister on September 6.

“The United Kingdom will always pay its way,” he added. “This government will therefore take whatever tough decisions are necessary.”

Those ‘tough decisions’ represent an economic U-turn on a scale rarely seen in the modern political era, with Hunt torching £32 billion of tax cuts only announced by the government last month. In the House of Commons later, Truss sat stony-faced as Hunt explained to MPs why he was course-correcting and tried to assure the public each of his decisions "will be shaped by core compassionate Conservative values."

The scale of Hunt's emergency economic surgery cannot be overstated.

He massively scaled back Truss’ energy price support scheme as he sought to reassure markets that Britain’s finances can be returned to a stable footing. Hunt said the energy price guarantee, the flagship policy of Truss’ debut mini-budget and designed to prevent huge increases in household energy bills, will only remain universal until April, when a new targeted plan will be put in place.

Truss’ planned cut to the basic rate of income tax will also be put on hold “indefinitely, until economic circumstances allow,” Hunt said.

The initial reaction from markets to Hunt’s statement was positive. Gilts — bonds issued by the British government which reflect the cost of national borrowing — extended their rally, while the pound rallied against the dollar in the immediate aftermath of Hunt’s words.


Truss in peril


But while the financial markets appear calmer for now, Truss' own position remains highly perilous, with an increasing number of her own MPs demanding she be replaced immediately.

Shortly after Hunt’s statement Angela Richardson, the Tory MP for Guildford, told Times Radio it was not tenable for Truss to stay in her post any longer. Other Conservative MPs — Crispin Blunt, Andrew Bridgen and Jamie Wallis — publicly called for Truss to go over the weekend, while veteran Tory MP Charles Walker told Sky News Monday night that if Truss didn't decide to go "right now, it won't be her decision."

He warned: "That agency will be taken away from her."

In the Commons Monday afternoon, MPs erupted in laughter when they were initially told Truss had been “detained on urgent business” after she declined to show up to an urgent question put forward by the opposition Labour Party.

Penny Mordaunt, a former Truss leadership rival who now serves as leader of the Commons, took questions in Truss' place — and was forced to deny the charge from Labour MP Stella Creasy that the prime minister was "cowering under her desk and asking for it all to go away."

Mordaunt said: "The prime minister is not under a desk… I can assure the house."

Truss later showed up for a Commons statement by Hunt, during which she looked on as her new chancellor distanced her government from its own economic decisions. Hunt even appointed a new advisory council whose members, including Rupert Harrison — once the top adviser to former Tory Chancellor George Osborne — resembled the "Treasury orthodoxy" Truss once railed against.


'When, not if'


Behind the scenes, dozens if not hundreds more MP want Truss gone. “It feels like when, not if,” a senior backbench MP said Monday.

It is only a matter of weeks since Truss was selected as leader by Conservative Party members who were won over by her bold — and highly risky — platform of unfunded tax cuts and deregulation, which quickly became known as Trussonomics.

Her plans to cut income tax, freeze alcohol duties, cut dividend tax rates, reverse payroll working reforms introduced in 2017 and 2021 and introduce a new VAT-free shopping scheme for non-U.K. visitors will all now be scrapped, however.

Truss had already announced last Friday, hours after sacking her initial pick as chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, that she would raise corporation tax in line with the previous U.K. administration’s plans, having pledged during the Tory leadership contest not to do so.

Indeed, the only tax cuts to survive from September’s mini-budget will be the reversal of a hike in national insurance, changes to stamp duty, and a permanent £1 million annual investment allowance for businesses.

Truss held a meeting with her Cabinet an hour before Hunt’s TV statement during which she insisted the government was still committed to a growth agenda, including introducing new low-tax investment zones, speeding up roads projects and increasing energy supplies.

But critics from all political sides said her premiership had already failed, and that her authority as leader was shot.

The Conservatives have “lost all credibility,” Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said. “The chancellor said that growth requires ‘confidence and stability’ — yet it’s clear that the Tories can’t provide this.”

Some speculated the swift abandonment of Trussonomics would have long-term repercussions for the U.K.’s political outlook.

“Libertarians will not be allowed anywhere near power for generations to come,” Matt Goodwin, a professor of politics at the University of Kent, who has researched radical-right politics and Euroskepticism, tweeted on Monday.


More to come


For the beleaguered Truss government, further big challenges lie in store.

Hunt made clear in his statement there would be “more difficult decisions” to come on tax and spending, with some economists forecasting a further £20 billion to £30 billion of cuts and tax rises will be required when the chancellor brings forward his full fiscal plan on October 31.

"This is now very clearly a tax-raising parliament,” said Torsten Bell, chief executive of the center-left Resolution Foundation think tank, “with the tax take set to reach highs not sustained since 1950.” Trussonomics, he added, had been "junked."

Bell said those tax rises would at least reduce the scale of public spending cuts required to balance the books on October 31, but warned that "many of Jeremy Hunt’s tough choices still lie ahead.”

Hunt will meet other senior ministers this week to discuss a plan for spending cuts which will then be submitted to the government’s independent fiscal watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, for audit ahead of the October 31 statement.

Bell warned the cuts to the energy price guarantee from next April would also hit millions of households hard.

“The price of shielding the public finances from wholesale gas markets next year is more pressure on households,” he said, “with the energy price cap now on course to hit £4,000 next April — almost double its effective level today."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Political Turmoil Resurfaces in Belgium Amid Economic Concerns
Fed policymakers divided on timing of interest rate cuts
Trump signals imminent agreement with Harvard University
Inheritance tax referendum alarms Swiss billionaire community
Japan cancels bilateral security meeting amid US defence demands
AI skeptic Emily Bender warns that ‘the emperor has no clothes’
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
Plans to Sell Dutch Embassy in Bangkok Face Local Opposition
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump's $5 Million 'Trump Card' Visa Program Draws Nearly 70,000 Applicants
DGCA Finds No Major Safety Concerns in Air India's Boeing 787 Fleet
Airlines Reroute Flights Amid Expanding Middle East Conflict Zones
Elon Musk's xAI Seeks $9.3 Billion in Funding Amid AI Expansion
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Taiwan Imposes Export Ban on Chips to Huawei and SMIC
Israel has just announced plans to strike Tehran again, and in response, Trump has urged people to evacuate
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
EU Proposes Ban on New Russian Gas Contracts
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
UK Home Secretary Apologizes Over Child Grooming Failures
Trump Organization Launches 5G Mobile Network and Golden Handset
Towcester Hosts 2025 English Greyhound Derby Amid Industry Scrutiny
Gary Oldman and David Beckham Knighted in King's Birthday Honours
Over 30,000 Lightning Strikes Recorded Across UK During Overnight Storms
Princess of Wales Returns to Public Duties at Trooping the Colour
Red Arrows Use Sustainable Fuel in Historic Trooping the Colour Flypast
Former Welsh First Minister Addresses Unionist Concerns Over Irish Language
Iran Signals Openness to Nuclear Negotiations Amid Ongoing Regional Tensions
France Bars Israeli Arms Companies from Paris Defense Expo
King Charles Leads Tribute to Air India Crash Victims at Trooping the Colour
Jack Pitchford Embarks on 200-Mile Walk to Support Stem Cell Charity
Surrey Hikers Take on Challenge of Climbing 11 Peaks in a Single Day
UK Deploys RAF Jets to Middle East Amid Israel-Iran Tensions
Two Skydivers Die in 'Tragic Accident' at Devon Airfield
Sainsbury's and Morrisons Accused of Displaying Prohibited Tobacco Ads
UK Launches National Inquiry into Grooming Gangs
Families Seek Closure After Air India Crash
Gold Emerges as Global Safe Haven Amid Uncertainty
Trump Reports $57 Million Earnings from Crypto Venture
Trump's Military Parade Sparks Concerns Over Authoritarianism
×