Kwarteng’s tax U-turn was inevitable – and he has already done damage

Chancellor's reversal shattered his reputation and did unnecessary harm to an already weak UK economy

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A little turbulence". That was Kwasi Kwarteng's attempt to put the horror show of the past 10 days to bed. No more distractions," the chancellor added. It was time to focus on the job at hand. Move along. Nothing to see here.

It seems unlikely Kwarteng will get away with it that easily. In the financial markets there was respite after last week's mayhem, but also a sense that the decision by the man responsible for the UK's Treasury policy to abandon plans to scrap the 45% top rate of income tax paid by those earning more than 150,000 was too little, too late.