Jeremy Hunt: There were mistakes in mini-budget – and some taxes will go up

Published

3 years ago

October 15, 2022

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The new chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said there “were mistakes” in Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget.

Speaking to Sky News on Saturday, Mr Hunt said: “It was a mistake when we were going to be asking for difficult decisions across the board on tax and spending to cut the rate of tax paid by the very wealthiest.”

Hunt warns of ‘difficult decisions’ – follow politics latest

He added that it was an error to “fly blind” by not accompanying the ‘fiscal event’ with an economic forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility, which many argue sent the financial markets into turmoil.

On tax cuts, he said: “We won’t have the speed of tax cuts we were hoping for and some taxes will go up.”

Asked if this would mean a return to austerity, he replied: “I don’t think we’re talking about austerity in the way we had it in 2010. But we’re going to have to take tough decisions on both spending and tax.”

The comments signal a plan to up-end the prime minister’s entire economic strategy, in an extraordinary rebuke of the pledges that brought her into office.

Mr Hunt was appointed chancellor on Friday, an hour after his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked after just 38 days in the job.

While his appointment was welcomed by some Tory MPs as “an experienced pair of hands”, others questioned why Mr Kwarteng was the one who had to go when he was pursuing policies Ms Truss espoused in her leadership campaign.

At a hastily-arranged news conference in Downing Street on Friday, the prime minister dismissed calls for her resignation, saying she was “absolutely determined to see through what I have promised”.

But announcing another U-turn, she said: “It is clear that parts of our mini-budget went further and faster than markets were expecting, so the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change.”

Mr Kwarteng’s plans to drop the planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25%, were therefore being scrapped, she announced, saving the Exchequer £18bn a year.

Is Jeremy Hunt now more powerful than the PM?

Rob Powell

Political correspondent

@robpowellnews

Jeremy Hunt has confirmed that Prime Minister Liz Truss’s economic vision is not only dead, but that the immediate actions of this administration will be to do almost exactly the opposite of what the prime minister promised during the summer leadership campaign.

This was a cold, hard reality check from a chancellor who is being upfront about the fact that his primary purpose is to put out the fires started by the government he’s just joined and restore some semblance of credibility to the UK economy.

Some taxes will rise, some will be cut more slowly than expected, and public spending will be trimmed with every department asked to find savings.

Does this mean pushing back the 2023 cut to the basic rate of income tax? Can the Ministry of Defence still expect its funding increase? Is there any chance of public sector pay rises reaching anywhere near inflation?

Politically, there is an argument to be made that Jeremy Hunt is now more powerful than the prime minister.

‘The last few weeks have been very tough’

Asked why he agreed to take on the difficult job of sorting out the public finances, the new chancellor said he wants to “do the right thing by the British people”.

But he added: “I want to be honest with people, we have some very difficult decisions ahead.

“The last few weeks have been very tough, but the context of that is coming out of a pandemic and a cost-of-living crisis.

“No chancellor can control the markets, but what I can do is show that we can pay for our tax and spending plans and that is going to need some very difficult decisions.”

He said that all government departments would have to “find more efficiencies than they were planning to find”.

However, he declined to give any specific commitments ahead of the fiscal statement on October 31.

Asked if the NHS will still get the money that was promised in the health and social care levy, he said “the government’s already made that commitment”.

He added: “I’m not going to make any specific commitments about specific departments now, or indeed on the tax side about specific taxes because we have to look at these things in the round. And we have to make sure as we take these very difficult decisions, we’re honest with people about the situation we face.”

‘This is a disaster’

David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, questioned how cuts can be made given the pressure public services are under.

He said the market turmoil seen in recent weeks is a “crisis made in Number 10” and called for a general election.

He said: “As you listen to Jeremy Hunt what you hear is despite long queues in the NHS, it’s now set to get worse, despite rising class sizes in Britain we can expect our education to get worse, and with crime soaring across many communities in the country, we need police officers.

“Are they are now going to back-pedal on those undertakings that they’ve previously made?

“This is a disaster and the only way to deal with a disaster is a general election and to set our country on a certain path for the next five years.”

He claimed Ms Truss had “no mandate” for her policies.

“We cannot live in an oligarchy effectively where the Conservatives choose who leads them and as a consequence gives us a prime minister with no mandate at all to make, now, the swingeing cuts that we’re about to see.”

Mr Hunt’s comments may only add to the sense among some Tory MPs that Ms Truss is increasingly powerless in Downing Street.

Will Walden, Boris Johnson’s director of communications when he was mayor of London, called Mr Hunt an effective “caretaker prime minister”, while former Conservative leader Lord Hague warned Ms Truss’s premiership “hangs by a thread”.

Heated messages shared in Conservative Party WhatsApp groups after Ms Truss’s hastily-arranged Downing Street press conference show the party is divided about the next steps, with some MPs calling for the PM to be replaced by Rishi Sunak or Penny Mordaunt.

To register your interest and share your story, please email TheGreatDebate@sky.uk

UK

Prince Harry expresses pride at fighting for his country and calls for veterans not to be forgotten

Published

1 hour ago

November 5, 2025

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Prince Harry expresses pride at fighting for his country and calls for veterans not to be forgotten

The Duke of Sussex has written about the privilege of serving his country ahead of Remembrance Day and appealed for people to consider former service personnel who carry the “weight of war”.

In a passionate essay, Prince Harry has warned how easy it is for veterans to be forgotten “once the uniform comes off”.

Former soldier Harry, who undertook two frontline tours to Afghanistan, has paid tribute to former servicemen and women across the UK, and describes Remembrance as “not simply a minute’s silence” but “a call to collective responsibility”.

“Every November the world, for a moment, grows quieter. We pause, together, to remember.

“Remembrance has never been about glorifying war. It’s about recognising its cost: the lives changed forever and the lessons paid for, through unimaginable sacrifice. It’s also about honouring those who, knowing that cost, still choose to serve,” he wrote.

In the 647-word essay entitled The Bond, The Banter, The Bravery: What it means to be British, Harry called on people to remember “not only the fallen, but the living” who carry the “weight of war” and urged them to knock on veterans’ doors and “join them for a cuppa… or a pint” to hear their stories and “remind them their service still matters”.

He added that he was “moved” each year by Norfolk-based Scotty’s Little Soldiers charity, which supports bereaved military children.

He also praised the “resilience” of those he met in Ukraine who had been injured in the war, and described the “courage reborn, camaraderie restored” seen at his Invictus Games competition.

It is “proof that service doesn’t end when the uniform comes off”, he wrote in the piece, released as his brother Prince William prepared to hand out awards for his Earthshot Prize in Brazil.

While recognising he is no longer a working royal in the UK, he expressed his love of the “things that make us British”.

He wrote: “Though currently, I may live in the United States, Britain is, and always will be, the country I proudly served and fought for.

“The banter of the mess, the clubhouse, the pub, the stands ridiculous as it sounds, these are the things that make us British. I make no apology for it. I love it.”

Harry’s personal message may feel like an own goal

To us it may feel like an unfortunate clash. William in Brazil to talk about the environment, Harry in Canada for Remembrance, both brothers trying to draw attention to causes they’ve supported for a very long time.

Both, I suspect, wishing we’d focus on what they’re actually trying to say, rather than what we think it means that they’re both on significant trips at the same time.

I know that both sides share a frustration that the headlines will pit them against each other, it has also been suggested that Harry’s team did make royal communications aware of his Canada plans.

The release of a particularly personal article about his life in the military, his observation that it’s easy for veterans to be forgotten and an apparent longing for what he defines as Britain, is intriguing though.

Especially when you can’t help but wonder whether it really needed to be published on the same day as his brother’s Earthshot Awards.

Sometimes these things feel like an own goal when it comes to the stream of stories about brothers divided, although how much should we bear the responsibility for perpetuating that narrative?

Harry also wrote that: “Remembrance isn’t confined to one weekend in November”.

“It’s a lifelong commitment to empathy, gratitude, and action; to be kinder, more united, and braver in protecting what those before us fought to preserve.”

UK

‘Hope won’: London mayor Sadiq Khan compares newly-elected New York mayor to his leadership

Published

3 hours ago

November 5, 2025

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'Hope won': London mayor Sadiq Khan compares newly-elected New York mayor to his leadership

New York has followed London by choosing hope over fear in electing Democrat Zohran Mamdani as its new mayor, Sir Sadiq Khan said.

Mr Mamdani, 34, defeated former New York governor Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa to become the city’s first Muslim mayor and the first of South Asian heritage.

London mayor Sir Sadiq drew comparisons to his own 2016 victory as he congratulated Mr Mamdani, who will become New York’s youngest mayor in more than a century when he takes office on 1 January.

US latest: Trump downplays Democrats’ wins

Sir Sadiq called it a “historic campaign”, adding on X: “New Yorkers faced a clear choice – between hope and fear – and just like we’ve seen in London – hope won.”

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson also congratulated Mr Mamdani, telling Sky News: “I wish him well.

“It’s a wonderful job to have secured.”

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said Mr Mamdani’s success “will resonate throughout the world” as he called it a “story where no one is left behind”.

“It’s time to write that story across England and Wales too,” he added.

Mr Mamdani’s victory was a setback for Donald Trump, who had thrown his weight behind Andrew Cuomo, a former Democrat running as an independent.

The mayor-elect described himself as “Trump’s worst nightmare” and said New York had shown “a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him”.

The US president had threatened to cut federal funding to New York if Mr Mamdani won.

In his victory speech, Mr Mamdani said: “New York will remain a city of immigrants, a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants and as of tonight, led by an immigrant.

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.”

UK

Manhunt for foreign prisoner after mistaken release from HMP Wandsworth

Published

4 hours ago

November 5, 2025

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Manhunt for foreign prisoner after mistaken release from HMP Wandsworth

Another foreign prisoner is on the run after being mistakenly released, Sky News has learnt.

The error at HMP Wandsworth in south London happened on 29 October – just five days after the high-profile release of migrant sex offender Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford in Essex.

It was also two days after Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy announced enhanced checks on prisoner releases.

Manhunt latest: Foreign prisoner on the loose

The Metropolitan Police confirmed to Sky News: “Shortly after 1pm on Tuesday 4 November, the Met was informed by the Prison Service that a prisoner had been released in error from HMP Wandsworth on Wednesday 29 October.

“The prisoner is a 24-year-old Algerian man.

“Officers are carrying out urgent enquiries in an effort to locate him and return him to custody.”

Sky News understands the prisoner was serving time for trespass with an intent to steal but has previously committed sexual offences.

It is understood he is not an asylum seeker.

‘Utterly unacceptable’

It is not yet clear why it was nearly a week between the latest release at Wandsworth and the police being informed that an offender was at large.

Sir Keir Starmer was not aware of the incident until the Met Police announcement, Downing Street said.

The prime minister’s spokesman told reporters: “The Met have released a statement I think in the last few minutes.”

He said “one mistaken release is one too many” and the case was “utterly unacceptable”.

“It’s important the police are given the time and space to bring him back into custody. And we will look into the circumstances behind this as a matter of urgency,” he added.

The PM’s spokesman could not say when Mr Lammy became aware of the error, after the cabinet minister refused to answer several questions in the House of Commons on the incident from the shadow defence secretary.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch wrote on X: “James Cartlidge asked the Deputy PM FIVE times to tell us if ANOTHER migrant sex offender had been accidentally released from prison.

“Instead of answering, Lammy lost his temper.

“Now we read it HAS happened again & he’s been on the run for a week.

“This is a shambles of a government.”

Lammy ‘outraged and appalled’

Sky News understands Mr Lammy did know about the prisoner release before he stood up in the Commons and was pressed on the issue by the Conservatives.

“If we knew, one can only assume the justice secretary knew,” a spokesman for Ms Badenoch said, adding Mr Lammy should come back to the chamber “and do a statement as soon as possible”.

Mr Lammy said afterwards he was “absolutely outraged and appalled by the mistaken release of a foreign criminal wanted by the police”, adding his “officials have been working through the night to take him back to prison”.

“Victims deserve better and the public deserve answers,” he said.

It is understood Mr Lammy believed it would have been irresponsible to talk about the case – involving several agencies – while details were still emerging.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted on social media: “Another dangerous criminal is on the loose thanks to Labour. What a total farce.”

The numbers of these types of errors has risen recently, with 262 instances between March 2024 and March 2025.

The Conservatives described the Kebatu episode as a “national embarrassment”.

In the aftermath of the Kebatu manhunt, Mr Lammy promised “the strongest release checks that have ever been in place”.

He also ordered an independent investigation into the Kebatu release, which is being led by former Deputy Commissioner of the Met Police Dame Lynne Owens.

“This latest incident exposes deeper flaws across the failing criminal justice system we inherited,” Mr Lammy added in his statement on Wednesday on the HMP Wandsworth error.

“Dame Lynne Owens’ investigation will leave no stone unturned to identify these issues, so we can fix them, improve safeguards and ensure the public is properly protected.”

‘Dangerous situation’

The Liberal Democrats’ justice spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said: “Just when you couldn’t think things could get any worse for the Ministry of Justice, somehow they have. It would be laughable if the situation weren’t so dangerous.

“This is yet another grave mistake from the government. The public deserves a full explanation about how this has happened again. That should start with David Lammy coming back before Parliament this afternoon for why he failed to answer this pressing question in PMQs as well as a full explanation of how it took almost a week for this to come to light.

“It’s utterly unacceptable that public safety has been put at risk yet again. Both the government and the Prison Service must own up to their failures and guarantee that these mistakes will stop happening once and for all.”