Gordon Brown: Kwasi Kwarteng may have U-turned, but huge spending cuts are still coming

Despite scrapping the 45p tax rate, Britain's government is clinging to £43bn of tax cuts. Public services and those on benefits will feel the pain

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng is still doubling the tax-free giveaways to those with share options, cutting £1bn from tax on dividends and sanctioning a free-for-all in bankers’ bonuses. Photo: Jacob King/PA

After the right turn, the U-turn. Despite abandoning his top rate tax cut, Britain's chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, has left £43bn of his £45bn tax cuts intact. A panicked climbdown does not add up to a change in strategy. 

He is still doubling the tax-free giveaways to those with share options, cutting £1bn from tax on dividends and sanctioning a free-for-all in bankers’ bonuses. He is also going ahead with his tax avoiders’ charter: £2bn for employees who are able to declare themselves self-employed.