UK Prime Minister Liz Truss fires Finance Minister and reverses tax cuts
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss fires Finance Minister and reverses tax cuts
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UK: After months of market turmoil, British Prime Minister Liz Truss fired her finance minister on Friday, but turbulent Conservatives plot the new leader's demise as his right-wing economic agenda stuck.

Kwasi Kwarteng became Britain's second-shortest-serving chancellor of the treasury, paying the price of the truce's crash program of unfunded tax cuts that stunned financial markets.

The truce did little to reassure investors and UK voters during its first press conference since Boris Johnson took office on 6 September. He insisted he had acted "decisively" to achieve "economic stability", but that the pound continued to fall on currency markets. Falling below 1.12 US Dollar.

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"We'll make it through this storm," she said, taking only four questions, looking nervously around the room, and answering briefly. "I want to deliver a low-tax, high-wage, high-growth economy," Truss said. "That mission continues."

Quarteng, who had returned early from international meetings in Washington, was replaced this year as Britain's fourth chancellor by Jeremy Hunt, a centrist former foreign secretary and Tory leadership candidate.

Since the Bank of England (BoE) intervened in bond markets on 23 September, the financial turmoil - financed by billions more borrowings - has been somewhat eased by the new government's plan to cut taxes on 23 September.

However, the central bank was adamant that its bond-buying spree would end on Friday, and market analysts said only a major withdrawal by the truce following Quarteng's disastrous budget announcement last month would avert fresh panic.

She formally announced a U-turn by announcing that she would maintain the Johnson government's plan to raise the corporate profit tax - having already changed its mind about cutting income taxes for the highest earners. .

Promised tax reforms were the centerpiece of Truss's successful pitch to Tory Party members that she was the best candidate to replace Johnson, rather than liberal rival Rishi Sunak.

According to a YouGov poll by The Times newspaper, 43% of Conservative voters want a new prime minister in Downing Street.
Other elections have shown the main opposition Labor Party making huge gains, putting the Conservatives at risk of electoral disaster.

Labor leader Keir Starmer said leaving Quarteng "won't repair the damage done to Downing Street."
"Liz Truss's reckless approach has decimated the economy, skyrocketed mortgage rates, and undermined Britain's position globally," he said.

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According to Tony Travers of the London School of Economics, Quarteng was made "a fallible man for the mistakes of the government", but his dismissal did not ease the pressure of the truss or pacify the Conservatives.

"It is difficult to see him recover from this till the next election," he said.

Quarteng is scheduled to be in Washington this weekend to end the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, after being chastised by IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva for the need for "coherent and coherent" policies was.

In response to the tax reversal, senior IMF official Alfred Kemmer praised the UK's "strong institutions", including the Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility, both of which had been weakened by the Truss and Quarteng.

In a speech in Washington, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said the turmoil in the United Kingdom demonstrated "how prudent we have to be with our financial and monetary mix."

Quarteng insisted in the US capital on Thursday that his job was secure. "I'm not leaving," he announced.

However, after Truss hastily held meetings with his own financial advisors in his absence, UK broadcasters showed live footage of a British Airways plane landing at London's Heathrow airport the day before at Quarteng.

According to multiple reports, senior Tory lawmakers were plotting to oust the truce by forming a new leadership team led by Sunak and Penny Mordant, who also ran for Johnson's seat.
According to senior BBC journalist Nick Watt, party bigwigs may move next week.

"It was impossible for the prime minister to stop after shooting @KwasiKwarteng who was implementing the program that won him Tory leadership," he wrote.

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Bernard Jenkin, a Tory Wright senior, called for "calm" following Hunt's appointment.
He tweeted, "Raspberry-picking a prime minister or calling for a general election will not calm the financial markets."

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