UK Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will unveil a mini-budget on Friday, which aims to break the “cycle of stagnation” in the British economy.
Tens of billions of pounds of increased spending and tax cuts will be announced at the “fiscal event”, as it is officially known.
Prime Minister Liz Truss said the plan would create more jobs, release extra finances for public services and lead to higher wages.
Foreign exchange markets took fright at the level of new debt likely to be incurred — as much as £50 billion ($55.9bn) — pushing sterling to a 35-year low of $1.11.
“The Chancellor @KwasiKwarteng and I know what a great country this is,” she wrote on Twitter.
“Our Growth Plan will unleash our potential and deliver better jobs, more funding for public services and higher wages for the British people.
“The action starts now.”
Mr Kwarteng is expected to tell the House of Commons: “Growth is not as high as it needs to be, which has made it harder to pay for public services, requiring taxes to rise.
“This cycle of stagnation has led to the tax burden being forecast to reach the highest levels since the late 1940s.
“We are determined to break that cycle. We need a new approach for a new era focused on growth.”
The statement is expected to include details of how the government will fund the energy price cap for households and businesses, and put into practice many of Ms Truss's tax-cutting promises.
The government is calling it a “growth plan”, which features about 30 measures. It comes at a time when the UK faces a cost-of-living crisis, recession, soaring inflation and climbing interest rates.
Mr Kwarteng will say that the plan will deliver enough revenue to fund public services and allow Britain to compete with other leading economies.
“That is how we will turn the vicious cycle of stagnation into a virtuous cycle of growth,” Mr Kwarteng is expected to say. He will say Ms Truss's administration will be “bold and unashamed in pursuing growth — even where that means taking difficult decisions”.
The chancellor has already confirmed that the national insurance rise introduced by Boris Johnson's government to pay for social care and tackling the National Health Service backlog will be reversed.
He is also set to scrap the planned increase in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent and the cap on bankers' bonuses as part of wider City deregulation.
It has also been reported that he will cut stamp duty in a further attempt to drive growth.
Proposals to fast-track a scheduled 1p cut to income tax and to slash VAT from 20 per cent to 15 per cent across the board are reportedly being considered.
The government is in talks with local authorities in the West Midlands, Tees Valley, Somerset and other regions to establish new investment zones — areas with lower taxation and planning rules, the chancellor is to announce.
“The time it takes to get consent for nationally significant projects is getting slower, not quicker, while our international competitors forge ahead. We have to end this,” Mr Kwarteng will say.
He also wants new measures to speed up about 100 major infrastructure projects, including new roads, railways and energy projects, by watering down environmental assessments and other regulations.
In a shake-up of the welfare system, Mr Kwarteng is reportedly set to announce that 120,000 Universal Credit claimants will have to take active steps to find work or lose benefits.
A price cap for the next two years of £2,500 on the average household's annual energy bill was announced by Ms Truss shortly after she took office, with a six-month freeze on bills for businesses and other non-domestic users unveiled this week.
Estimates of the cost of the energy package are as high as £150 billion.
Some economists have questioned the sharp rise in government borrowing to fund the plans.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies said the strategy to drive growth was “a gamble at best” and that ministers risked putting the public finances on an “unsustainable path”.
Labour also gave a warning of increased risk and said the plans followed 12 years of “low growth and plummeting living standards”.
Pat McFadden, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “The Conservatives don't have a new plan for economic growth. They have simply moved from levelling up to trickle down and that has not worked in the past.
“Their choice to fund all of this through borrowing and not attempt to fund even a proportion of it through a windfall tax on the energy companies making the most from the current crisis increases risk and leaves British taxpayers paying more for longer.
“They are doing all of this at a time when inflation is high and interest and mortgage rates are already on the rise.”
The Bank of England on Thursday raised interest rates to 2.25% — their highest in more than 13 years — and indicated it believes the economy is already in recession.
Governor Andrew Bailey told Mr Kwarteng in a letter that interest rates might have to be raised even further to curb the extra demand caused by his new tax cuts.
He wrote that the government's energy price guarantee could add to “inflationary pressures in the medium term”.
In response, Mr Kwarteng challenged the central bank to “continue to take the forceful action necessary” to rein in near-double digit inflation.
The chancellor, who has previously criticised the bank's record on containing inflation, also noted that “not all of the UK's above-target inflation can be attributed to global events and that inflationary pressures are becoming more domestically driven”.
Unlike a full budget, which would typically be held in November, Mr Kwarteng will put forward only a handful of legislative proposals.
He has come under fire for preventing the independent Office for Budget Responsibility from making the economic forecasts usually published alongside a budget, leading to accusations that of avoiding scrutiny.
The lack of OBR data means there will be no independent analysis of whether the announcements breach the government's existing budget rules or their effect on growth.
Ms Truss this week said she was willing to be an unpopular prime minister to bring in measures she believes will grow the economy.
She admitted her tax cuts would disproportionately benefit the rich but rejected claims of unfairness.
MATCH INFO
Champions League quarter-final, first leg
Ajax v Juventus, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE)
Match on BeIN Sports
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
HUNGARIAN GRAND PRIX RESULT
1. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari 1:39:46.713
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari 00:00.908
3. Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes-GP 00:12.462
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-GP 00:12.885
5. Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing 00:13.276
6. Fernando Alonso, McLaren 01:11.223
7. Carlos Sainz Jr, Toro Rosso 1 lap
8. Sergio Perez, Force India 1 lap
9. Esteban Ocon, Force India 1 lap
10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren 1 lap
11. Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso 1 lap
12. Jolyon Palmer, Renault 1 lap
13. Kevin Magnussen, Haas 1 lap
14. Lance Stroll, Williams 1 lap
15. Pascal Wehrlein, Sauber 2 laps
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber 2 laps
17r. Nico Huelkenberg, Renault 3 laps
r. Paul Di Resta, Williams 10 laps
r. Romain Grosjean, Haas 50 laps
r. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull Racing 70 laps
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Match info
Uefa Champions League Group B
Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Eriksen 80')
Inter Milan 0
Company%C2%A0profile
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Company%20profile
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Scoreline
Liverpool 4
Oxlade-Chamberlain 9', Firmino 59', Mane 61', Salah 68'
Manchester City 3
Sane 40', Bernardo Silva 84', Gundogan 90' 1
ENGLAND SQUAD
Goalkeepers Henderson, Pickford, Pope.
Defenders Alexander-Arnold, Chilwell, Coady, Dier, Gomez, Keane, Maguire, Maitland-Niles, Mings, Saka, Trippier, Walker.
Midfielders Henderson, Mount, Phillips, Rice, Ward-Prowse, Winks.
Forwards Abraham, Barnes, Calvert-Lewin, Grealish, Ings, Kane, Rashford, Sancho, Sterling.
If you go...
Flying
There is no simple way to get to Punta Arenas from the UAE, with flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi requiring at least two connections to reach this part of Patagonia. Flights start from about Dh6,250.
Touring
Chile Nativo offers the amended Los Dientes trek with expert guides and porters who are met in Puerto Williams on Isla Navarino. The trip starts and ends in Punta Arenas and lasts for six days in total. Prices start from Dh8,795.
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
How the bonus system works
The two riders are among several riders in the UAE to receive the top payment of £10,000 under the Thank You Fund of £16 million (Dh80m), which was announced in conjunction with Deliveroo's £8 billion (Dh40bn) stock market listing earlier this year.
The £10,000 (Dh50,000) payment is made to those riders who have completed the highest number of orders in each market.
There are also riders who will receive payments of £1,000 (Dh5,000) and £500 (Dh2,500).
All riders who have worked with Deliveroo for at least one year and completed 2,000 orders will receive £200 (Dh1,000), the company said when it announced the scheme.
The Outsider
Stephen King, Penguin
Liverpool's all-time goalscorers
Ian Rush 346
Roger Hunt 285
Mohamed Salah 250
Gordon Hodgson 241
Billy Liddell 228
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Mane points for safe home colouring
- Natural and grey hair takes colour differently than chemically treated hair
- Taking hair from a dark to a light colour should involve a slow transition through warmer stages of colour
- When choosing a colour (especially a lighter tone), allow for a natural lift of warmth
- Most modern hair colours are technique-based, in that they require a confident hand and taught skills
- If you decide to be brave and go for it, seek professional advice and use a semi-permanent colour
The biog
Family: Parents and four sisters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in business management and marketing at American University of Sharjah
A self-confessed foodie, she enjoys trying out new cuisines, her current favourite is the poke superfood bowls
Likes reading: autobiographies and fiction
Favourite holiday destination: Italy
Posts information about challenges, events, runs in other emirates on the group's Instagram account @Anagowrunning
Has created a database of Emirati and GCC sportspeople on Instagram @abeermk, highlight: Athletes
Apart from training, also talks to women about nutrition, healthy lifestyle, diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
Naga
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Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Company%20profile
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Company%20Profile
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Company%20Profile
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
