By Geoffrey Smith
Investing.com -- The U.K. government is set to abandon plans to cut the top rate of income tax after several high-profile Conservative Party figures came out against the move over the weekend, the BBC reported.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng is expected to make a statement within the hour to that effect, it said.
The cut was a relatively small part of the £45 billion ($48 billion) giveaway announced by Kwarteng in his mini-budget two weeks ago, but has triggered a furious political backlash against the Conservatives, and was criticized by - among others - former party kingmaker Michael Gove on Sunday, who said he wouldn't vote for the measure when proposed to parliament.