Hunt - Kwasi Kwarteng's replacement as chancellor in the Liz Truss cabinet - confirmed that he is ditching many of the measures announced in his predecessor's somewhat ill-judged mini-budget, including the planned cut to income tax.
In an emergency statement, Hunt said: “We will reverse almost all the tax measures announced in the growth plan three weeks ago that have not started parliamentary legislation.
“So whilst we will continue with the abolition of the health and social care levy and stamp duty changes, we will no longer be proceeding with the cuts to dividend tax rates, the reversal of off-payroll working reforms introduced in 2017 and 2021, the new VAT-free shopping scheme for non-UK visitors or the freeze on alcohol duty rates.”
Hunt also dramatically scaled back planned support for household energy bills, in an effort to restore stability following the recent period of turmoil on the financial markets.
In his statement, Hunt said the...