Mini-budget: Leeds council leader says Kwasi Kwarteng's plans are 'good news for no-one except bankers'

New Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled cuts in income tax, corporation tax and stamp duty on Friday.

The rise in National Insurance, introduced by former Chancellor Rishi Sunak earlier this year to help fund health and social care, will be scrapped, as will caps on bankers’ bonuses.

Universal Credit claimants could also face more sanctions for not meeting certain criteria around job searches.

The government says the plans will boost economic growth and encourage investment, but critics warned they will only help the most well-off in society and will add to national debt.

Asked for his reaction to the mini-budget on Friday, Councillor James Lewis, who leads Labour-run Leeds City Council said: “It will benefit a very narrow segment of society.

“It’s good news for highly-paid bankers but not for anyone else it seems.

“The lady I was chatting to behind the counter in the bank isn’t going to be getting a £2m bonus.”

Councillor Lewis said he wanted to see more detail around the introduction of investment zones around the country, where the government says business taxes will be lower and planning rules relaxed to encourage housebuilding.

He said however that if the government was “serious about economic growth” in West Yorkshire, HS2 needs to come to Leeds “Rapidly, ideally sooner rather than later.”

Councillor Lewis also said he was eager to see more detail about how social care will be funded in the wake of the National Insurance cut.

Local authorities up and down the country spend far more on looking after vulnerable adults than anything else

He said he hoped the “changes to contributions don’t set social care back”.

The mini-budget has received support from local Conservatives however.

The East Leeds Conservatives tweeted that Mr Kwarteng’s measures delivered the “biggest tax cuts for 50 years and unleashes Britain’s potential”.