What was in the mini-budget and what has been scrapped?

Published

3 years ago

October 17, 2022

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Just over three weeks ago, then-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled his tax-cutting mini-budget to MPs which caused economic turmoil in the UK.

Following a dramatic U-turn on a promise to abolish the 45% higher rate of income tax after backlash from the government’s own Conservative MPs earlier this month, Mr Kwarteng has now been sacked – and many of the other pledges in the mini-budget have been torn up.

On Friday, the government scrapped its decision to axe the rise in corporation tax to 25% next year.

Addressing the nation in a statement on Monday morning, newly appointed chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed that most of the other mini-budget proposals have also now been thrown in the bin as Prime Minister Liz Truss seeks to hold on to her premiership.

Hunt goes further than expected – as Tory MPs say it’s ‘when not if’ Truss goes – follow latest on politics

Here is a breakdown of what was in the government’s mini-budget at the end of September and what has changed:

Income tax:

What was pledged?

• The government pledged that the 45% higher rate of income tax would be abolished.

• There was a promise to reduce the basic rate of income tax to 19p in the pound by April 2023, meaning 31 million people would be better off by an average of £170 a year.

What has changed?

• The government rowed back on its decision to scrap the highest rate of income tax earlier this month.

• Mr Hunt said the basic rate of income tax would now “indefinitely” stay at 20p until economic conditions allowed a reduction.

“It is a deeply held Conservative value – a value that I share – that people should keep more of the money that they earn,” the new chancellor said.

“But at a time when markets are rightly demanding commitments to sustainable public finances, it is not right to borrow to fund this tax cut.”

Corporation tax

What was pledged?

• The government said it would cancel a UK-wide rise in corporation tax which was due to increase from 19% to 25% in April.

What has changed?

• Ms Truss confirmed in a brief press conference on Friday that she was dropping this flagship policy of her leadership campaign and that corporation tax will go up from 19% to 25% in April after all.

Energy package

What was pledged?

• The government said household bills would be cut by an expected £1,000 this year with aid from the energy price guarantee and £400 grant. The energy price guarantee had been due to cap prices for two years.

What has changed?

• Mr Hunt confirmed the energy price guarantee will now end in April after which time the government will look to target help on those most in need.

IR35 rules

What was pledged?

• The government promised to “simplify” IR35 rules – the rules which govern off-payroll working. It promised to change the regulations so pensions funds can increase UK investments.

What has changed?

• Mr Hunt confirmed the government will now abandon these proposed IR35 changes.

Alcohol duty

What was pledged?

• The government said in the mini-budget that planned increases in the duties on beer, for cider, for wine, and for spirits would be cancelled.

What has changed?

• Mr Hunt confirmed this will now no longer be the case, with the price of beer, cider, wine and sprits soon rising.

Dividend tax change

What was pledged?

• The government announced in the mini-budget that from 6 April 2023, the additional rate applying to dividend income would be abolished and the 1.25% rise in the dividend rates, initially brought into force in April this year, would be reversed.

What has changed?

• Mr Hunt said the government will no longer reverse the 1.25% rise in the dividend rates.

VAT-free shopping

What was pledged?

• The government pledged VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors.

What has changed?

• Mr Hunt said this policy has now been scrapped.

Stamp duty

What was pledged?

• The government promised to cut stamp duty which is paid when people buy a property in England and Northern Ireland. It said no stamp duty would be paid on the first £250,000 of any property and no stamp duty on the first £425,000 for first-time buyers.

What has changed?

• Mr Hunt confirmed this is one of very few policies in the controversial mini-budget which will remain.

National Insurance

What was pledged?

• The government said it would reverse the recent rise in National Insurance from 6 November. Workers and employers have paid an extra 1.25% since April 2022.

What has changed?

• Mr Hunt confirmed that, like stamp duty, this policy has survived the mini-budget cull.

Bankers’ bonuses

What was pledged?

• The government announced it was scrapping rules which limit bankers’ bonuses.

What has changed?

• Mr Hunt did not mention bankers’ bonuses in his statement. But a Treasury source has told Sky News there is “no change in policy there.” They said the cap “was bad policy” adding that it “didn’t cap bankers pay and was bad for financial stability”.

World

Every shop and home burned or ransacked: The Syrian city engulfed in tribal violence

Published

9 hours ago

July 19, 2025

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Every shop and home burned or ransacked: The Syrian city engulfed in tribal violence

The Syrian presidency has announced it’s assembling a special taskforce to try to stop nearly a week of sectarian clashes in the southern Druze city of Sweida.

The presidency called for restraint on all sides and said it is making strenuous efforts to “stop the fighting and curb the violations that threaten the security of the citizens and the safety of society”.

By early Saturday morning, a ceasefire had been confirmed by the US special envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, who posted on X that Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to a ceasefire supported by US secretary of state Marco Rubio.

The post went on to state that this agreement had the support of “Turkey, Jordan and its neighbours” and called upon the Druze, Bedouins, and Sunni factions to put down their arms.

Sky News special correspondent Alex Crawford reports from the road leading to Sweida, the city that has become the epicentre of Syria’s sectarian violence.

For the past 24 hours, we’ve watched as Syria‘s multiple Arab tribes began mobilising in the Sweida province to help defend their Bedouin brethren.

Thousands travelled from multiple different Syrian areas and had reached the edge of Sweida city by Friday nightfall after a day of almost non-stop violent clashes and killings.

“We have come to protect the [Arab] Bedouin women and children who are being terrorised by the Druze,” they told us.

Every shop and every home in the streets leading up to Sweida city has been burned or ransacked, the contents destroyed or looted.

We saw tribal fighters loading the back of pickup trucks and driving away from the city with vehicles packed with looted goods from Druze homes.

Several videos posted online showed violence against the Druze, including one where tribal fighters force three men to throw themselves off a high-rise balcony and are seen being shot as they do so.

Doctors at the nearby community hospital in Buser al Harir said there had been a constant stream of casualties being brought in. As we watched, another dead fighter was carried out of an ambulance.

The medics estimated there had been more than 600 dead in their area alone. “The youngest child who was killed was a one-and-a-half-year-old baby,” one doctor told us.

The violence is the most dangerous outbreak of sectarian clashes since the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime last December – and the most serious challenge for the new leader to navigate.

The newly brokered deal is aimed at ending the sectarian killings and restoring some sort of stability in a country which is emerging from more than a decade of civil war.

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Israel and Syria agree to ceasefire, says US ambassador to Turkey

Published

12 hours ago

July 19, 2025

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Israel and Syria agree to ceasefire, says US ambassador to Turkey

Israel and Syria have agreed to a ceasefire, the US ambassador to Turkey has said.

Several hundred people have reportedly been killed this week in the south of Syria in violence involving local fighters, government authorities and Bedouin tribes.

As the violence escalated in the southern province of Sweida, Israel launched airstrikes, including attacks on Wednesday on the defence ministry in Damascus and a target near the presidential palace.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government said it aimed to protect Syrian Druze – part of a small but influential minority that also has followers in Lebanon and Israel.

In a post on X, the US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, said Israel and Syria had agreed to a ceasefire supported by Turkey, Jordan and others.

“We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity,” Mr Barrack said in a post on X.

The Israeli embassy in Washington and Syrian Consulate in Canada did not immediately comment or respond to requests for comment from the Reuters news agency.

The ceasefire announcement came after the US worked to put an end to the conflict, with secretary of state Marco Rubio saying on Wednesday that steps had been agreed to end a “troubling and horrifying situation”.

After Israel warned it would destroy forces attacking Syrian Druze, Syrian President Ahmed al Sharaa told the minority group in a televised statement on Thursday that “we reject any attempt to drag you into hands of an external party”.

He then claimed Israel has “consistently targeted our stability and created discord among us since the fall of the former regime”.

It comes after the United Nations’ migration agency said earlier on Friday that nearly 80,000 people had been displaced in the region since violence broke out on Sunday.

It also said that essential services, including water and electricity, had collapsed in Sweida, telecommunications systems were widely disrupted, and health facilities in Sweida and Daraa were under severe strain.

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‘Horrific incident’ at sheriff training facility in LA – at least three people dead

Published

18 hours ago

July 18, 2025

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'Horrific incident' at sheriff training facility in LA - at least three people dead

At least three people have been killed after a “horrific incident” at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility, officials have said.

A spokesperson for the department said there was an explosion at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training in east LA.

The incident was reported at around 7.30am local time (3.30pm UK time).

Aerial footage from local channel KABC-TV suggests the blast happened in a parking lot filled with sheriff patrol cars and box trucks.

Attorney general Pam Bondi wrote on X: “I just spoke to @USAttyEssayli about what appears to be a horrific incident that killed at least three at a law enforcement training facility in Los Angeles.

“Our federal agents are at the scene and we are working to learn more.”

California congressman Jimmy Sanchez said the explosion had “claimed the lives of at least three deputies”.

“My condolences to the families and everyone impacted by this loss,” he said.

The attorney general said in a follow-up post that agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are “on the ground to support”.

The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said the LAPD bomb squad has also responded to the scene.

“The thoughts of all Angelenos are with all of those impacted by this blast,” she said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the incident, his press office said in a post on X.

“The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is in contact with the Sheriff’s Department and closely monitoring the situation, and has offered full state assistance,” it added.

The cause of the explosion is being investigated.

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