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Home Secretary Suella Braverman says she was in favour of the 45p tax cut for higher earners until it was ditched by the chancellor yesterday.

In the last few moments, speaking at a Telegraph fringe event at the Tory Party conference she said: “I am disappointed by the subsequent reversal.

"I think it would have stimulated growth and created more jobs.

“I am disappointed that members of our party staged a coup, effectively, and undermined the authority of the prime minister in an unprofessional way.”

Braverman says she has a lot of respect for former cabinet minister Michael Gove, but says he got it wrong in publicly calling out the policy.

“We should be uniting behind this prime minister," she adds.

“Michael, if you have got concerns raise them in private - that is what our party does.

"We are a broad church, we aren't going to agree all the time. Concerns are legitimate... you don't air your dirty linen in public.”

A chipper PM at a winded conferencepublished at 13:20 British Summer Time 4 October 2022

13:20 BST 4 October 2022

Chris Mason
Political editor

A few things strike me about the prime minister at this Conservative Party Conference.

Firstly, at a gathering that feels winded by events, tanking markets and opinion polls and a U-turn you could see from space, Liz Truss appears repeatedly chipper.

A sense that there is still a novelty - four weeks into the job - associated with being prime minister, despite all the difficulties she's encountered.

In my interview with her today, she was determined to talk about the help the government is offering with energy bills, almost irrespective of what questions I asked.

It is a colossal intervention from ministers, which the government is proud of, but it's been drowned out by first the national period of mourning after the Queen's death and then the so-called mini Budget, much of which blew up in the government's face.

Now, weeks later, ministers from Liz Truss down are leaning into talking about it, and doing so all the time.

They've concluded, firstly, that it's what plenty of people are very worried about and secondly it is calmer territory upon which to focus, rather than those budgetary measures that have caused them such a headache.

Finally, the BBC's political editor points out it has been four weeks to the day since Liz Truss took office as prime minister.

He says that since then, people are now paying more on their mortgages and the Tories' approval ratings have plunged in the opinion polls. And he asks if Truss feels it has been a "disaster" of a start to her premiership.

"I don't agree with that analysis," she answers.

"If you look at where we were four weeks ago, people were looking at energy bills of £6,000 and business were looking at going out of business this winter because they can't afford to pay the costs of their energy.

"We have taken action to keep taxes low.

"What I care about is doing the right thing by the British people - taking the right short-term decisions to help struggling families get through this winter and also the right long-term decisions to put Britain on the right track to success.

"Of course I never pretended this would be easy."

We've got more for you from Liz Truss's latest interview with the BBC's political editor Chris Mason.

She says she does still want to see the higher rate of tax lowered, but repeats that she has listened to feedback from party colleagues and changed her government's policy as a result.

In an interview this morning at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, she told him: "I want to see the higher rate lower."

She added: "I want us to be a competitive country, but I have listened to feedback. I want to take people with me."

Pushed as to when she might seek to lower or abandon the additional rate - paid on earnings above £150,000 a year by people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - the prime minister said: "I'm not contemplating that now."

You may be forgiven for thinking the prime minister must have finished today's media round by now. But she's just done a fresh interview with the BBC's political editor.

She starts by saying she wants everyone across the United Kingdom to have the chance to succeed.

She tells Chris Mason: "For years and years the country hasn't grown fast enough and we have seen some parts of the country left behind.

"That's what I want to fix."

Pat McFadden, Labour’s shadow chief secretary to the treasury, has criticised Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng after the prime minister refused today to say she trusts her chancellor.

She was asked the question in an interview earlier this morning - you can read about that here.

“The fact that the prime minister can’t even say she trusts her chancellor tells you all you need to know about the architects of the economic crisis into which they have plunged the country,” says McFadden.

They have “undermined trust” in the economy, he adds, with people paying the price through higher mortgage payments.

Junior Cabinet Office minister Brendan Clarke-Smith has just been on Times Radio and claimed the government's current set of policies offers more than if benefits rose with inflation.

Speaking to Matt Chorley, the Conservative MP for Bassetlaw said: "I think benefits should be set at a level where people can live a certain standard of living. That should always be there as a safety net.

"But I think if you look at the packages we're doing at the moment, everyone's getting £400, some of the poorest, the most vulnerable, are getting £1200. If you factor in all the extra support we're giving that's more than if benefits rose with inflation.

“It may be that rising in line with inflation isn’t the right thing and giving something direct like a direct payment is a far better way. Like we've done with energy."

Image source, pa

Back at the Conservative Party conference, and former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has been speaking at a fringe event.

On the topic of benefits, the Chingford MP feels "it wouldn't make a huge amount of sense" not to raise them in line with inflation.

He adds: "My view is very simply that the support that we give right now, we are going to give out on the cost of living, which is huge - a package we should be talking more about, but at the same time, it wouldn't make a huge amount of sense then to withdraw some of that by actually reducing or not uprating benefits at the same time.

Leila Nathoo
Political correspondent

Before the U-turn on the abolishing the 45p tax rate, some Tory MPs raised concerns about how they could possibly justify boosting the take-home pay of the wealthiest in society, while at the same time, in effect, cutting the incomes of the poorest.

The 45p issue has now gone away but the context of a cost of living crisis remains.

And as the government seeks ways to pay for other promised tax cuts, there seem to be plenty of Tory MPs willing to argue that benefits should not bear the burden of balancing the books.

But the thinking inside Number 10 is that help is already being channelled towards those who need it most, through support with energy bills and targeted cost of living payments.

They think their big intervention to keep energy bills from rising this winter is addressing the main component of inflation and will have the effect of bringing the rate down over time.

And so they could argue that to increase benefits in line with inflation would in effect be a duplication of support – an additional layer that isn’t required.

And they feel that there are enough MPs in the party who are sceptical of a ballooning welfare budget who could be won round.

But with a cabinet minister going on the record with opposition today – it feels like this argument is gathering steam.

Image source, Reuters

Earlier, we told you that the Leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt, had been airing her views on benefits, saying they should keep pace with inflation.

That was seen as a break with the government line, which is that policy hasn't been decided yet.

And those views are part of a longer, pre-recorded interview with Times Radio, that has now aired.

In it, Mordaunt has also been speaking about the culture within the prime minister's new cabinet.

She believes Truss has created a cabinet which can "kick the tyres on policy" and be a place of "frank discussion".

Image source, PA Media

She adds: "It should be consultative, colleagues together, take decisions together and have that collective responsibility."

"She will run cabinet different from her predecessor," she adds.

"One of the things the new prime minister is trying to do is to reset cabinet to what it should be.

"We have some wise heads around that table and we should all be contributing."

• You can read more about who is in Liz Truss's top team here

Our colleagues at Radio 5 Live have been asking for their listeners opinions after Nadine Dorries made that general election call.

Pete in Surrey feels the country needs one.

“This chopping and changing isn’t what anyone voted for,” he says, “there isn’t a mandate for the decisions being made at the moment.”

“It needs to be put to the people, it’s not ideal by a long chalk… but this is the situation we’ve been put in.”

Image source, Luke

Luke in Redditch, Worcestershire, (above) is a young Conservative councillor and believes the government does have “democratic validity”.

“It won an election two years ago, it’s got an 80 seat majority in the House of Commons and has just elected a new leader from its membership,” he says.

“Of course the new prime minister is going to have her own view on how we change things, but I think we need to actually let her get on with it and see what a Conservative government can deliver over a full five years in office.”

Darren in Charlesworth, Derbyshire, began a petition calling for a general election which has almost 500,000 signatures.

He believes the country needs stability as Truss has “no mandate for what she’s doing”.

“I think one thing Liz Truss has achieved is bringing people together in opposition to her,” he says.

Image source, Chloe

Chloe in Chelmsford (above) is a Conservative party member and also feels the country needs stability.

“It would be nice to turn on the news and have life at a steady pace and a government getting on with what they should be doing,” she says, “rather than calling for a new election or a new leadership, because that takes away the focus from getting anything done.”

“I think for the sake of the economy, businesses and the general public, we need a couple of years of a stable government getting the job done.”

Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries yesterday suggested Liz Truss should call an election if she wants to ditch the policies set out by Boris Johnson's government.

And Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis, who was on BBC Breakfast this morning, has been speaking about that.

Asked if he agrees with Dorries, Lewis says: "I would say we're still delivering on the 2019 manifesto. I certainly do that in my department."

"I don't think the public want an election. I mean, the public want us focused on delivering for them in what is a difficult time for them economically, as we've seen that global pressure on inflation and energy prices.

"That's where our focus should be. And it's where it is," Lewis says.

The pound hit $1.14 earlier this morning - its highest level for two weeks - after the chancellor attempted to reassure investors by pledging to bring forward details of how he would cut debt.

Despite the pound dipping slightly in the last few hours, the two-week high shows sterling recovering after Kwasi Kwarteng's plans to fund swathes of tax cuts by extra borrowing worried investors.

In the wake of the "mini-budget" on 23 September, the pound slumped to a record low of $1.03, government borrowing costs surged and the Bank of England was forced to take emergency action after the dramatic market movements put some pension funds at risk of collapse.

You can track the latest value of the pound here.

Image source, .

Image source, Reuters

The BBC’s Nick Eardley – reporting from the Tory conference in Birmingham – has been speaking with Nicky Campbell on Radio 5 Live this morning, where he discussed some of the current tensions within the party.

“What I would say about Liz Truss’s government is that a month into a new administration you shouldn’t have this level of rebellion,” he says, adding that although there were disagreements within Boris Johnson’s government, they were mainly centred around the issue of Brexit.

Despite the tensions, Nick says the prospects for an imminent general election are low.

“If I was a betting man, I wouldn’t expect the government to go anywhere near a general election at the moment, because they’ve not really figured out their pitch to the country quite frankly – that’s one of the key arguments I keep hearing from Tory MPs.”

It is less than a month since Liz Truss assumed office as prime minister.

In her final comments to broadcasters she says she is enjoying being in the top job, despite it being a "challenging time".

Pressed on whether it is harder than she thought, Truss replied: "I came in with very clear expectations that this was a tough time for our country.

"But, I'm prepared to do what it takes to get us through these difficult times, to get us through this difficult winter and to come out stronger as a country."

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Throughout her interview with broadcasters Liz Truss repeated her stance that her government was responding to concerns and "is listening".

She defended backtracking on the plans to scrap the 45p rate of income tax for higher earners.

"What we've done is we've listened to what people said on this issue," the prime minister said.

"It wasn't a core part of our growth plan, what our growth plan is focused on is helping people with energy bills, getting business moving and we're here at this fantastic new development in Birmingham, creating jobs for the future, that is what the plan is about.

"It was becoming a distraction, that is why we immediately changed that policy and that is the kind of government we are.

"We do respond when there are concerns and we act quickly."

Some more from Liz Truss's latest comments.

She was asked whether she trusted her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and did not directly say she did.

"I work very, very closely with my chancellor," she said.

"We are very focused on getting the economy growing.

"And that's what people in Britain want, we are facing difficult economic times, rising interest rates around the world."

Kwarteng on Monday scrapped plans to ditch the 45p tax rate on the highest earners, in a major U-turn by the government.

Image source, PA Media

Continuing her media rounds, Liz Truss has been speaking to broadcasters during a visit to a construction site in Birmingham.

She was asked about comments made earlier in the day by the leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt who intervened to say benefits should rise with inflation

"Are you listening to Penny?" the PM was asked.

She responded: "Well, on the subject of benefits we have not yet made that decision and of course there will be discussions about the way forward on commitments like benefits and how we deal with future budgets."

Asked again as to whether she welcomed the intervention from Mordaunt, a Cabinet minister and recent rival to Truss for the Tory leadership, Truss said she looked forward to discussions.

Liz Truss is having a busy morning, speaking to lots of different news outlets about her economic plans. We'll bring you more of those shortly.

Speaking to Nick Robinson on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, she refused to confirm whether benefits will rise with inflation.

Truss said the government needed to be "fiscally responsible".

Her comments have sparked a fresh battle with some Tory MPs who want her to rule out a real-terms cut to benefit, to help pay for her plans.

You can listen to what she said below.

As we reported earlier, Liz Truss has also been interviewed by LBC's Nick Ferarri, who pressed her on whether the government would make more U-turns over its economic plans.

The prime minister repeatedly refused to say explicitly whether they would change any of the other tax-cutting policies announced by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng last month.

Pressed six times by Ferrari whether she would shift course again, Truss said she was "absolutely determined to press ahead" with the government's "growth plan".

She also said it was "important to listen to people", but denied that meant there would be more U-turns.