PM Liz Truss has announced another U-turn in her government's tax-cut plan, in an effort to reassure financial markets
Truss says she will reverse her plan to scrap an increase in corporation tax and admits the government's mini-budget had gone "faster and further" than many expected
Asked why she should stay on as PM, she says she is "determined to see through what I promised"
It comes after the PM sacked her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and replaced him with former health and foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt
Kwarteng lost his job just three weeks after he announced unfunded tax cuts that triggered financial turmoil
In a letter, Kwarteng backs Truss's economic "vision" for the country and says he will continue to support her from the backbenches
The PM has been under growing pressure from within her party to rethink her economic plans, with one Tory MP telling the BBC: "It's checkmate, we're screwed”
Chris Mason
Political editor
Chris Philp is no longer Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
Whitehall sources tell me he was rung by the prime minister in the last hour and asked to move to the Cabinet Office, and he agreed to that.
Nick Eardley
Chief political correspondent
It's clear from Kwasi Kwarteng's letter that it was the prime minister's decision to get rid of him.
This wasn't a mea culpa on his part; he was told to step down and did.
Do not underestimate how significant this is. Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng were billed as the closest of political allies when she won power.
His allies told me he saw his job as delivering her plans. They would, we were told, work in lockstep, free from the drama seen in previous PM-chancellor relationships.
But the turmoil in the markets - and then at Westminster - have ripped that relationship apart.
Truss has made the calculation that to move on from the mini-budget she needed to get rid of her chancellor. But given how close the pair have been, that may be easier said than done.
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Prime Minister Liz Truss will hold a press conference at 14:30 BST, Downing Street has confirmed.
It will take place in No 10's briefing room.
Stay with us as we bring you the latest updates.
Chris Mason
Political editor
Image source, Getty ImagesOne person being tipped to be the new chancellor is Jeremy Hunt.
A big name in the party, he’s run big departments of state before and, crucially, was a supporter of Rishi Sunak for leader.
The prime minister would be able to argue she is reaching out to parts of the party that did not support her to become PM.
Hunt was the runner-up for the Conservative leadership when Boris Johnson won, and was knocked out very early on in the most recent contest.
He isn’t replying to texts or calls asking if he’s been offered the job.
Kwasi Kwarteng leaves Downing Street after sacking
Kwasi Kwarteng has been pictured smiling as he exited Downing Street after agreeing to a request from Prime Minister Liz Truss that he stand down as chancellor.
He waved to reporters as he left via the front entrance of No 11 before getting in a car.
Nicholas Watt
Political editor, BBC Newsnight
Image source, PA MediaA group of senior Conservatives have decided to call publicly on Liz Truss to resign following her sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor.
The party grandees held their discussions and made their decision to act after reports emerged the prime minister was planning to sack her chancellor, which has since been confirmed.
The senior Tories are planning to speak out next week.
One figure involved in the discussions told BBC Newsnight: “These are serious people. The PM will find it hard to survive.”
The senior Tories, including former cabinet ministers, believe the prime minister’s position is untenable because Kwarteng was carrying out her policies.
The source said: “Liz Truss campaigned on these tax cuts. Liz Truss won the Tory leadership contest on the basis of this programme. It is absurd for her to blame Kwasi.”
The Tory source warned that Truss had made a mistake if she thought Kwarteng had no political base within the parliamentary party.
The source said: “People like Kwasi. He is friendly. He’s honest. Maybe a bit too honest. Maybe that’s his problem.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for a general election in response to the news that Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked as chancellor.
He said: "This mustn't just be the end of Kwarteng's disastrous chancellorship, it should be the death knell of the Conservatives' reckless mismanagement of our economy. It didn't suddenly start with Kwarteng but it must end now.
"People are angry, fed up and worried about the future. Most of all they are furious that Conservative MPs seem to think this is an acceptable way to conduct the government of our country in these difficult times.
"Enough is enough. It started with Boris Johnson failing our country, and now Liz Truss has broken our economy, it is time for the people to have their say in a general election."
More details now from the letter published by Kwasi Kwarteng, who's been sacked as the chancellor.
He wishes Prime Minister Liz Truss well with her plans for the economy, noting that "we've been colleagues and friends for many years".
He promises his support for Truss from the backbenches.
Kwarteng also acknowledges market turbulence following his mini-budget on 23 September.
He writes that "the economic environment has changed rapidly" since he unveiled his plans, which comprised £45bn of tax cuts funded by government borrowing.
Kwarteng says he took on the job "in full knowledge that the situation we faced was incredibly difficult".
He appears to stand by the measures that were announced - saying "following the status quo" to address issues such as rising interest rates and energy prices "was simply not an option".
Kwasi Kwarteng - who is out of his job as the UK's chancellor - has just confirmed that he was sacked by Prime Minister Liz Truss rather than choosing to leave.
He's tweeted a letter confirming the news, saying he was "asked to stand aside".
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Peter Ruddick
Money & Work reporter
The value of the pound has fallen sharply in the past half an hour after reports emerged that Kwasi Kwarteng is no longer chancellor.
Sterling is now back below $1.12, trading 1.3% lower than it was.
The pound rallied strongly yesterday after rumours of a planned U-turn on elements of Kwarteng’s so-called mini-budget.
Chris Mason
Political editor
Superlatives get overused in political reporting, but this is genuinely astonishing.
Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng are old friends, and from the same wing of the Conservative Party.
What they have attempted in policy terms is at the core of their outlook on politics.
And yet their entire political programme rests above the shredder, and now the chancellor is out.
Out after less than 40 days.
And a news conference in Downing Street beckons, at a time of financial instability, and the UK does not have a chancellor of the exchequer.
The prime minister will not want to face questions until she can answer the one about who runs the Treasury.
Some in the party are arguing that the key thing she should be looking for in a new chancellor is instant credibility, to steady the markets.
There are two people who are former chancellors on the Conservative backbenches.
But one is called Rishi Sunak, so we can rule him out of wanting to come back, and the other is Sajid Javid.
But Truss may go for a close ally - what about the Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey, or Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke?
Anticipating Kwasi Kwarteng's sacking last night, one senior figure cautioned against it.
“If as prime minister you remove a lightning rod, don’t be surprised if rather more flashes of it end up striking you instead.”
Let's see what happens next.
Image source, ReutersThe ex-chancellor was described as a political soulmate of Prime Minister Liz Truss
As we've been reporting, Kwasi Kwarteng is no longer the UK's chancellor.
The news means that a key ally of Liz Truss - who is reportedly also her neighbour in Greenwich - is out of the PM's top team just weeks into the job.
Here's a quick recap of his political career:
It means Kwarteng is the second shortest-serving UK chancellor on record.
The shortest serving chancellor, Iain Macleod, died of a heart attack 30 days after taking the job in 1970.
Since 2019, the UK has had four chancellors, including Nadhim Zahawi who served the third shortest tenure with 63 days during a short-lived reshuffle under Boris Johnson, and Sajid Javid who served 204 days - the fourth shortest tenure since the Second World War.
Kwasi Kwarteng is no longer chancellor, the BBC understands.
It comes amid speculation Truss will today announce a U-turn on parts of the mini-budget.
Image source, PA MediaChancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has arrived at Downing Street to meet Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Kwarteng returned from the US ahead of schedule for urgent talks with Truss, as expectations grow that the government will scrap parts of its mini-budget to reassure markets.
As we've been reporting, No 10 has declined to comment on reports by Times political editor Steven Swinford, external that Kwarteng is due to be sacked.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's flight was not as tracked as Priti Patel's visit to Kenya in 2017, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 has said.
In a tweet, external, FlightRadar24 confirmed that the chancellor's flight was tracked by around 50,000 users, while Patel's flight was tracked by an estimated 230,000.
In 2017, Patel, who was international development secretary, was summoned back to the UK by the then-prime minister Theresa May following reports she had held unauthorised meetings with Israeli ministers.
She subsequently resigned but later became home secretary in Boris Johnson's government.
Simon Read
Personal Finance Reporter
The news that Prime Minister Liz Truss will hold a press conference on the economy later today sent UK government bonds climbing.
The bonds are issued by the government to raise money and in return it pays interest on them. The higher the price of the bonds, the lower the interest rate it pays, known as the yield.
The bond price fell after September's mini-budget, causing yields to climb to their higher level since the financial crash in 2008, as investors demanded higher returns to lend to the UK.
Yields on 30-year UK bonds hit 5.17% on 28 September in the aftermath of the mini-budget. Today's news sent them tumbling to as low as 4.22%.
However, that's still some way above the level they were at the day before the mini-budget in 23 September - then they stood at 3.59%.
Chris Mason
Political editor
A No 10 source has said they are not commenting on reports Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is due to be sacked.
When it was put to the source that they would normally instantly deny an inaccurate report of such significance, I was told I could "read into" what they were saying and not as I saw fit.
A Treasury source said "I have not heard that information" when I suggested the chancellor was being removed.
Kwarteng is not answering his phone.
Chancellor's convoy leaves Heathrow airport for urgent talks with prime minister
Image source, PA MediaAs we reported moments ago, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will not be appearing at the press conference the prime minister is delivering later today.
Moments ago, he was pictured at London Heathrow Airport after he cut short his trip from Washington.
We're now hearing Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will not appear at the press conference with Prime Minister Liz Truss later today.
We still don't have confirmation about exactly when the conference will take place or what Truss will say.
But speculation is mounting that there will be a U-turn on parts of the mini-budget outlined by Kwarteng on 23 September.