Treasury chief secretary Chris Philp has been moved to the Cabinet Office and his position will be filled by Edward Argar, according to a report from the Independent.
The moves comes after British Prime Minister Liz Truss, sacked the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng. The PM has appointed Jeremy Hunt, a previous foreign and health secretary to the Exchequer’s office.
It has only been just over a month since Truss took over and already she is scrambling to ensure that her embattled government gets back on track. The turmoil is in no small part thanks to the market turmoil unleashed by the 45 billion pound mini-budget that Truss unveiled last month.
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The package contained a commitment to maintain energy prices for the next two years, but also included tax cuts for high earners and corporations.
The announcement of the 45 billion pound package wreaked havoc in the markets causing widespread investor panic and leading to the value of the pound taking a nosedive. The Bank of England stepped in to save pension funds, even as mortgage and borrowing rates went up. In a very rare occurrence, even the International Monetary Fund made a public rebuke, asking that Truss reconsider her budget so as not to further stoke inequality in the UK.
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In her second U-turn in the mini-budget, the PM has said that corporation tax will increase, even as she cleans house in the Treasury.
Philp’s move to the Cabinet Office is being seen as a demotion, considering he was seen as an advocate to cut the 45% tax rate for high earners, a piece of legislation included in the mini-budget. That cut has since been reversed.
Earlier this week, Philp was ridiculed by opponents at Westminster after insisting that the government had no plans to make any further reversals to the mini-budget. His announcement led to shouts of “yet” from Labour MPs in response.