Politics

As Liz Truss faces open revolt in her own party over her tax cut plans, her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will today try and reassure the IMF that everything is under control. Ministers continue to be under pressure for the market chaos that erupted after the government announced its £45bn package of unfunded tax cuts last

Liz Truss has pledged not to cut public spending to balance the books in her first PMQs since the chancellor’s contentious mini-budget – despite a leading economics-focused think tank warning the government is billions short of the sums needed. The prime minister insisted she was “absolutely” not planning public spending reductions, but vowed that taxpayers’

Renewable energy generators and nuclear power plants face having their revenues capped as part of new government legislation. The Energy Prices Bill will be introduced in the Commons on Wednesday to bring into law its plan to help households and businesses with soaring energy costs over the winter and beyond. But late on Tuesday, the

Sir Keir Starmer has removed his chief of staff as part of a major restructuring of the Labour leader’s office as he moves the party to an “election footing”. In a statement released on Tuesday, the party said the Labour leader held a call with staff this morning alongside the general secretary and announced plans

MPs will return to Westminster on Tuesday after a chaotic conference season, with the chancellor set to face questions for the first time since the fallout from his mini-budget. Parliament has been in recess for over two weeks to allow the parties to hold their annual political gatherings, but will kick off at 2.30pm with

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s debt-cutting plan will be published on 31 October – three weeks earlier than planned – alongside an independent economic forecast, the Treasury has confirmed. Both the publication of the medium-term financial plan and the forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) had been due on 23 November, but the chancellor has

Scottish independence will create a partnership of equals in the UK, Nicola Sturgeon will say in her speech to the SNP conference in Aberdeen today. Ms Sturgeon will bring the three-day event to a close by telling delegates that the nations of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, will “always be the closest of

Cabinet minister Nadhim Zahawi has warned restive Tory MPs that “dither or delay will end in defeat” as he appealed for unity just over a month after Liz Truss took office. Speaking to Sky News, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster stressed the need for party colleagues to “focus” on delivery or face being

On Thursday, the day after the end of the conference season, YouGov hosted a focus group with seven Blue Wall voters from around the South East exclusively for Sky News. Some natural Conservatives, some former Tony Blair supporters, all with one thing in common: each voted Tory in the 2019 general election. Now their votes

Liz Truss has “showed the world she is unfit to be prime minister” and is a “symptom of the Westminster dysfunction”, SNP’s deputy leader will say in his opening speech at the party conference. Keith Brown will accuse the prime minister of delivering “more chaos and confusion than even the most pessimistic prediction” when he

Liz Truss has sacked trade minister Conor Burns from her government “with immediate effect” following an allegation of serious misconduct. The Tory MP for Bournemouth West has also had the whip suspended while the complaint is investigated. A No 10 spokesman said: “Following a complaint of serious misconduct, the prime minister has asked Conor Burns

A government minister has failed to rule out energy rationing across the UK this winter after warnings three-hour power blackouts could be imposed. Asked on Sky News whether the measure – not seen in the UK since the 1970s – would be brought in, climate minister Graham Stuart said the government did not “expect that

Labour has called for an investigation into the appointment of Liz Truss’s chief of staff, after it was revealed he was questioned as a witness in an FBI bribery inquiry and was initially being paid by Number 10 via his lobbying company. Mark Fullbrook refused to answer questions about the FBI investigation when tracked down

The Bank of England has confirmed it intervened to stabilise the pensions market following the chancellor’s mini-budget as multiple firms which schemes were reliant on faced the prospect of being wound up within hours. Responding to a letter from Treasury Select Committee chairman Mel Stride asking for greater clarity on why the Bank intervened at

The plane flying Liz Truss to meet the Queen at Balmoral for her appointment as prime minister a month ago was hit by turbulence in bad weather and struggled to land at Aberdeen airport. The aircraft’s helpless circling in mid-air was seen at the time as a bad omen for her premiership. And after a

Liz Truss vowed to “get Britain through the tempest” and insisted “everyone will benefit” from the result of her economic policies in her keynote party conference speech during which she was heckled by climate activists. Addressing Conservative members at the event in Birmingham, as she battles to save her premiership, the prime minister acknowledged that

In power for just 28 days – and for 10 of them politics was paused following the death of the Queen – it has been the worst possible start for Liz Truss. A (mini) budget unveiling £45bn of tax cuts without a fiscal framework, precipitating a £65bn emergency bond buying programme by the Bank of

Liz Truss says she had “absolutely no shame” in performing a dramatic U-turn on the government’s plan to scrap the 45p higher rate of tax. The prime minister told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby she “took the decision very rapidly” to axe the policy, which was “becoming a distraction” from the rest of the

Liz Truss has said the UK must have “the courage of its convictions to put our nation on the path to success”, a day after a major U-turn on a key economic policy. Writing in the Telegraph, the prime minister said the struggling economy was a global problem caused by Putin and COVID, that there

The first rule of U-turns, as a veteran former cabinet minister told me last week, is to do them quickly. Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng decided late last night to cut their losses, both saying this morning that the policy of abolishing the 45p rate for those earning more than £150,000 had become a “distraction”.