U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss Fires Treasury Chief, U-Turns on Taxes

LONDON—U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss fired Treasury chief Kwasi Kwarteng and reversed crucial parts of her government’s tax cuts, after her plans to jolt the economy into growth unraveled in spectacular fashion following a backlash from financial markets and her party. 

Mr. Kwarteng, who three weeks ago presented the U.K.’s largest tax cuts since the 1970s, was asked to quit by Ms. Truss as markets balked at the scale of the borrowing required to fund the package and her lawmakers protested at the prospect of deep public-spending cuts. Mr. Kwarteng’s tenure as chancellor of the exchequer was the second shortest in recent British history. He was replaced by Jeremy Hunt, a party centrist and former foreign secretary.

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