British people are the guinea pigs in another risky experiment at the hands of the Tory party

Kwarteng’s surprise decision to abolish the top 45p rate of income tax paid on earnings over £150,000, is a huge risk politically, writes Andrew Grice

The chancellor’s £45bn of tax cuts went further than expected (PA)

Kwasi Kwarteng declared that “we are at the beginning of a new era” in a dramatic mini-Budget that for once lived up to the billing by government aides who promised “shock and awe”.

The chancellor’s £45bn of tax cuts went further than expected, the biggest such package since 1972 and larger than Nigel Lawson’s in 1988. The 1972 experiment under Tory chancellor Anthony Barber failed, inflation rocketed and he made a humiliating retreat. Now, the British people are the guinea pigs in another risky experiment.

Kwarteng’s surprise decision to abolish the top 45p rate of income tax paid on earnings over £150,000, is a huge risk politically. Notably in the red wall, where voters are unlikely to welcome a £10,000 a year tax cut for someone on £300,000 a year. So is his decision to scrap the cap on bankers’ bonuses and his refusal to cover part of his necessary £60bn energy bills package over the next six months with a windfall tax on the excess profits of oil and gas producers.