UK Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked on Friday. He has only been in office since September 6. Kwarteng had to leave the field because of all the fuss over Prime Minister Liz Truss’ controversial tax plans. Former health minister Jeremy Hunt replaced Kwarteng.
Two weeks after taking office, Kwarteng announced the economic plan he and Truss had drawn up. This includes large tax cuts for the wealthy. For example, the highest tax scale was abolished.
The idea is that money will ‘seep’ from the rich to the less wealthy. As a result, everyone will have more money to spend and the economy will grow rapidly.
The plan immediately met with a lot of criticism and turned out to be dramatic in practice. In recent weeks, the UK economy has fallen sharply. The value of the pound has fallen and more and more people are experiencing financial difficulties.
As a result of the rioting, Truss has partially withdrawn from its plans. The prime minister announced a U-turn in his tax plan at a news conference on Friday. This includes an increase in business taxes. Previously he said he did not want to increase the tax.
Furthermore, the name Kwarteng on the graves of the Ministers of Finance
Kwarteng is the second shortest British Chancellor of the Exchequer ever. Iain Macleod died of a heart attack thirty days after taking office in 1970.
Kwarteng was replaced by former minister Hunt. He previously successively served as Minister of Culture, Minister of Health and Minister of Foreign Affairs. In the latter position, he replaced current Prime Minister Truss in July 2019.
The UK has now become the fifth Minister of Finance since 2019. During that period, the terms of office of Nadhim Zahawi (63 days) and Sajid Javid (204 days) were also very short.
Kwarteng and Truss have been best friends for years and are now even neighbors. In his farewell letter praised Kwarteng Truss for its “dedication and determination”. He said he still believes that “your vision (Truss, ed.) is still true”.
“Typical tv ninja. Pop culture lover. Web expert. Alcohol fan. Wannabe analyst. General bacon aficionado.”
