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Politics latest news: Mini-Budget will be 'game-changing' moment for UK economy, says Cabinet minister

Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor, will today deliver his "mini-Budget" in the House of Commons  - Phil Noble/Reuters
Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor, will today deliver his "mini-Budget" in the House of Commons - Phil Noble/Reuters

Kwasi Kwarteng's "mini-Budget" will be a "game-changing" moment for the UK economy, a Cabinet minister claimed this morning.

Simon Clarke, the Levelling Up Secretary, said the Chancellor's fiscal statement in the House of Commons will "focus on the real drivers of growth" by cutting taxes for families and businesses.

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The Chancellor is expected to pledge to “turn the vicious cycle of stagnation into a virtuous cycle of growth” as he sets out tens of billions of pounds of both tax cuts and increased spending.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said the strategy to drive growth is “a gamble at best” and that ministers risk putting the public finances on an “unsustainable path”.

But Mr Clarke rejected the "gamble" claim, telling Sky News that in order to return to average annual growth of 2.5 per cent the UK must "get back to the measures that we know work", namely lower taxes.

“That is something which the Prime Minister put at the heart of her leadership campaign this summer and today we are going to see that translated into action through what I think will be a really important and game-changing financial statement,” he said.

​​Follow the latest updates below.


07:59 AM

'What the markets want to know is whether the UK economy is going to grow'

The lack of an Office for Budget Responsibility forecast to accompany today's fiscal statement (see the post below at 07.49) could well spook the financial markets.

This is because they will not be able to read what the independent assessment is of the impact on the public finances of the Government's new policies.

Simon Clarke, the Levelling Up Secretary, claimed this morning that the main thing which the markets will be worried about is whether the UK economy is going to grow.

He told Sky News: "What the markets want to know is whether the UK economy is going to grow and that is something which the Chancellor is setting at the absolute heart of our strategy, that the UK wants to get back to those levels of trend growth that we used to enjoy and critically catch up with other parts of the world where dynamic economies are surging ahead."


07:49 AM

No OBR economic forecast today

Budgets are accompanied by independent economic forecasts which are put together by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

But because today's fiscal statement is not being classed as a Budget, and because of how quickly it has come about, the OBR will not be publishing a forecast - we will have to wait until later in the financial year for the modelling to be released.

Simon Clarke, the Levelling Up Secretary, said that "given this is a short notice event they would not be able to complete the usual quality of analysis that they would offer".

Mr Clarke told Sky News: "This is an attempt to kickstart growth, it is delivered at short notice and at great speed, we have been working on it with huge rapidity over recent days, but it is not something which the OBR can model to their usual standards but they will be doing so in due course."


07:42 AM

Mini-Budget will be a 'game-changing' moment

Simon Clarke, the Levelling Up Secretary, is on the morning media round for the Government as he sets the scene ahead of Kwasi Kwarteng's "mini-Budget".

Mr Clarke was told during an interview on Sky News that the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank had described Liz Truss's strategy for achieving economic growth as "a gamble at best".

He replied: “No, it is not. It is about asserting that if we want to get back to the trend growth that this country enjoyed before the 2008 financial crisis, the 2.5 per cent average that we used to see, then we need to get back to the measures that we know work and which of course we saw during the 1980s and the 1990s helped to stimulate a period of huge prosperity in the British economy.

“That is to say making sure that alongside clearly a major programme of government investment that we focus on the real drivers of growth and that is to say reducing the burden of tax facing both businesses and families.

“That is something which the Prime Minister put at the heart of her leadership campaign this summer and today we are going to see that translated into action through what I think will be a really important and game-changing financial statement.”


07:36 AM

Good morning

Good morning and welcome to today's politics live blog.

There is a big day ahead in Westminster as Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor, takes centre stage to deliver his eagerly-awaited "mini-Budget".

The Chancellor will announce billions of pounds of tax cuts and increased Government spending in a moment which will likely define Liz Truss's administration.

Mr Kwarteng is expected to start his fiscal statement in the House of Commons at about 9.30am and I will be on hand to guide you through the key developments.