The Tories’ plan to make the rich richer

Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor, presented a mini-Budget today (23 September) whose centrepiece was the biggest tax cuts in decades in an attempt to stimulate the economy. Anoosh Chakelian, Rachel Wearmouth, Rachel Cunliffe and Emma Haslett take us through the announcements that shocked the House of Commons. They discuss how these ideological policies will disproportionately benefit the rich; the UK’s precarious financial position as borrowing costs jump; and whether this is a departure from the last twelve years of Tory rule, as was suggested by Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor.In You Ask Us, the team answer Rachel Cunliffe’s question: does this now mean that a post-2009 graduate on £50,000 a year will pay a higher marginal tax rate (including student loan repayments) than someone on £200,000 who went to university for free before tuition fees were introduced?If you have a question for You Ask Us, email [email protected] listeners can subscribe to the New Statesman for just £1 a week for 12 weeks using our special offer. Just visit newstatesman.com/podcastoffer.LISTEN AD-FREE:📱Download the New Statesman appMORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.