Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has announced that the government will be abandoning their plans to offer a tax cut for the highest earners in a surprise U-turn.

In a public statement, the Chancellor commented that: "It is clear that the abolition of the 45p tax rate has become a distraction" he would add that "we get it, and we have listened."

The decision has come after several Conservative MPs voiced their opposition to the plan after it was introduced just over a week ago in the mini-budget, adding additional backlash onto Liz Truss' new government.

Kwarteng stated the proposal was "drawing out a strong package", which included support for energy bills, and cuts to the basic rate of income tax and corporation tax.

When asked whether his previous comment that there was "more to come" on tax cuts still stood, Kwarteng said there would be no tax cuts ahead of the next Budget in the spring.

Despite this, he has said the government will continue to adhere to its 2021 comprehensive spending review and will not raise spending in line with the current levels of inflation.

Political editor Chris Mason added the U-turn had left the chancellor and prime minister "humiliated, wounded and weakened".

He continued, "but Liz Truss will hope it creates space to move forward, hauling herself out of the political quagmire of a budgetary statement that imploded on contact with political reality,"

Their opposition party, Labour, called for the government to "reverse their whole economic, discredited trickle down strategy".

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves added the U-turn came "too late for the families who will pay higher mortgages and higher prices for years to come".

Other members of the opposition have stated that they no longer had "any credibility" and the whole mini-budget needed an overhaul.

The U-turn follows the British pound reaching a record low last week after the Chancellor's mini-budget created turmoil in the markets.

The 45% tax rate applies to income above "150,000 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The scrapping of the top rate made up around £2bn of the £45bn worth of tax cuts announced by the chancellor in his mini-budget.

Other measures stated included a cut to the basic rate of income tax to 19%, the hopes to overturn the recent rise in National Insurance and scrapping the cap on bankers' bonuses.