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Prime Minister Liz Truss must be given a chance to "settle in" and "get things under control", according to a former Conservative minister.

Dame Andrea Leadsom, who served as energy secretary from 2019 to 2020, had initially backed Penny Mordaunt in the party leadership contest.

Speaking as she picked up her damehood from Buckingham Palace today, she said: "There's been a huge amount of turmoil over the last few weeks within the nation, and the prime minister must be given a chance to get things under control and start to make progress on what is a very important agenda of growing the economy."

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Following speculation about a possible government U-turn on the mini-budget, Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: "Today's mess shows the utter chaos this government is in."

She added: "This is a crisis made in Downing Street and working people are paying the price.

"Labour has said repeatedly that they need to reverse the kamikaze budget and restore confidence.

"This is now urgent as the Bank of England's intervention in the markets ends tomorrow. The Tories cannot allow the chaos caused by their mini-budget to continue any longer."

Amid reports that discussions are under way over whether Prime Minister Liz Truss's government will carry out a U-turn on the mini-budget, senior members of the government have been seen going into Downing Street.

The latest among them are Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons, and Chief Whip Wendy Morton.

Rumours have emerged over the last hour about a possible government U-turn on the mini-budget, as reported by Sky News and The Sun.

Conservative backbench MP John Baron has told the BBC that the government displayed a lack of "compassionate conservatism" when it delivered the mini-budget.

He told Radio 4's World at One programme the announcements had led to a mood "of caution and concern".

He added: "The breaking of the link between benefits and inflation during the cost-of-living crisis is wrong. But the optics are also wrong when we've also been proposing a cut in the 45p rate of tax."Baron suggested some of the tax cutting agenda could be saved, provided the markets were given reassurance over funding, but the PM Liz Truss needed to "turn the ship around pretty quickly."

If you're just joining us, or in need of a lunchtime catch-up, here's a round-up of today's key lines as Westminster continues to deal with the aftermath of Prime Minister Liz Truss's controversial mini-budget:

• Truss has come under repeated pressure by leading economists, senior Tory MPs and members of the opposition to reconsider tax cuts announced in the mini-budget
• A Downing Street spokesman has told journalists there will be no more U-turns, despite rumours to the contrary

• Conservative Home's Paul Goodman told the BBC that MPs are considering alternatives to Truss as leader
• But Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said that changing the current leadership would be a "disastrously bad idea, politically and also economically"
• Latest YouGov polls suggest that Labour is ahead of the Tories by 28 points - with the Conservatives on 23% and Labour on 51%.
• Liberal Democrats say the government has 24 hours to set out a realistic plan as it faces the "economic doomsday clock"
• The Bank of England's emergency scheme, which has supported the UK economy by buying government bonds, is due to end tomorrow

The pound has risen in the last half hour as rumours - reported by Sky News and The Sun's Harry Cole - have emerged about a possible government U-turn on the mini-budget.

Sterling has jumped from $1.11 to near $1.13 against the dollar.

The pound hit a low $1.03 after the mini-budget as the financial market reacted to the Chancellor’s tax cutting plans.

Government borrowing costs have also fallen today.

Leila Nathoo
Political correspondent

Image source, EPA

A Downing Street spokesman has been briefing journalists, and insisted there will be no more U-turns on the mini-budget, despite reports on Sky News and The Sun that one is possible.

Asked whether the prime minister could promise there would be no further U-turns and if the PM was committed to the timeframe of the measures announced, her official spokesperson replied "yes".

Asked why the foreign secretary appeared not to rule out a change of direction in interviews this morning, the prime minister's spokesman said the James Cleverly was making the point that fiscal decisions were for the chancellor and it wasn't for him to go into detail.

When asked whether the prime minister was concerned about her reception at a meeting of backbenchers last night, her spokesperson replied that her "sole focus" was on delivering growth.

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Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt has joked about Tory MPs being described as having "grim" faces during yesterday's Prime Minister's Questions.

Shadow Commons leader Thangam Debbonaire made the remark, adding that Mordaunt "couldn’t even muster a nod for her prime minister".

“Funereal, unspeakably bleak, just some of the last night savage stream of consciousness flowing from the 1922 Committee of Tory backbench MPs. Dear, oh dear," Debbonaire said.

“The country’s economic outlook almost as grim as the faces on the benches opposite during PMQs... the leader of the House couldn’t even muster a nod for her prime minister. Why would she?”

Mordaunt responded:

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BBC Radio 5 Live's Nicky Campbell has been chatting to Tory voters from across the UK, and many have voiced their frustrations over Prime Minister Liz Truss's leadership, the mini-budget and subsequent market turmoil.

Deborah in Essex is also a Conservative voter currently considering if her values align more with Labour now.

"[The Conservative Party] have changed the captain but not the ship," she says.

"I think if we have a general election, people just won't turn out - it would break my heart to not vote Conservative but I'm not sure I'm ready to vote Labour."

And Devon in Walthamstow, London, says he's "fully behind Liz Truss".

He feels much of the criticism for her policies is because people haven't read her policies "in full detail".

"Give the lady time," he says, "things will work out, people will get their money back, people will see the money in their pay packet."

Image source, Jon Craig Photos

But Vikki in Bristol feels the country is in a "terrible mess, and it seems to be getting worse by the day".

"Liz Truss' position is untenable," she says, "every day that goes by, she causes more damage to the country."

Speaking about who she would vote for in the next election, Vikki says she's "stuck in the middle" and even contemplating voting Labour, which makes her "very uncomfortable" as a lifelong Conservative voter.

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Savers are finally being offered better rewards from providers after years of low interest rates, but some deals are being pulled within hours.

Experts say banks and building societies are leapfrogging each other on best-buy tables as they advertise new products with better returns.

This is the flipside of more expensive mortgages seen in recent weeks.

Many providers are raising money by attracting savers which they can then lend out in mortgages and other loans.

The idea of saving money will be alien to many people struggling with the rising cost of living.

A recent survey by the Building Societies Association (BSA) found 35% of those questioned had stopped saving.

Meanwhile, 36% of those asked said they were relying on their savings to get through a period of rising bills and prices.

Read the full story here.

The Bank of England is the UK's central bank. It is independent of the government.

Its main job is to maintain monetary and financial stability. It sets the UK's official interest rates and produces the country's banknotes.

What is the Bank doing and why?

In September, the government promised huge tax cuts without saying how it would pay for them. Afterwards, the value of the pound fell, and the cost of government borrowing went up.

An increase in the cost of government borrowing is a problem as it means it has to pay more interest on money it owes. Higher borrowing costs have a knock-on effect on things like the interest rates on people's mortgages.

There have also been worries about whether the funds which hold people's pensions are safe.

To keep the market functioning in an orderly manner, the Bank is buying government bonds from the pension funds.

The scheme will end on Friday. The Bank's governor Andrew Bailey told the BBC that the Bank had always said the help would be temporary.

Read more about the Bank of England's role.

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The Liberal Democrats have said the government has 24 hours to set out a realistic plan as it faces the "economic doomsday clock".

The Bank of England's emergency scheme to buy government bonds to keep the market functioning is due to end tomorrow.

Lib Dem Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney said Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has "spent this morning defending the indefensible".

"The botched budget must be overhauled starting by scrapping tax cuts for the richest companies.

"With the economic doomsday clock ticking, we are seeing the Conservatives at their very worst, both uncaring and incompetent.

"The government has 24 hours to set out a realistic plan. We have seen nothing but chaos and calamity since Liz Truss took power, the public deserves better than this."

Labour are maintaining the lead they opened up over the Conservatives last month, according to a new YouGov poll for the Times.

The figures show the Conservatives on 23% of the vote, with Labour on 51% - a 28-point lead.

Two weeks ago, Labour had a 33-point lead, external.

More from Tory peer Lord Finkelstein, who says Liz Truss's premiership has to be called into question if she ends up reversing her economic plans.

He says the PM made tax cutting the central argument of her election campaign and "if she’s going to reverse this policy, what was the purpose of electing her as leader?"

Lord Finkelstein told the BBC: "I just have never believed that if you cut taxes you raise more revenue than you lose. It may be true of some taxes at the very margin, over a long period of time but I've never thought that would happen.

"She can keep pressing on with this policy but the consequences are obvious to see and they'll be paid for by lots of people and therefore paid also electorally by the Conservative party in the end."

The government is going to stay focused on growing the economy he says, as he defends the mini-budget that triggered market turmoil.

Image source, Reuters

The Conservative peer and Times columnist Lord Daniel Finkelstein says warnings about the PM's economic plans, made by the former chancellor Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership campaign, were ignored by the party who chose Liz Truss as their leader.

Speaking to the BBC News Channel he said: "If you borrow money against either spending, or in this case tax cuts, and you don't know where it's coming from, the markets may not back that judgement."

He added: "People say, 'Oh, you shouldn't say I told you so', I don't have a problem with doing that".

Questioned about the PM being able to stay in power, Lord Finkelstein said there was no question that she was in a "lot of trouble".

The King held an audience with the prime minister at Buckingham Palace last night - a meeting that will soon become a regular weekly thing.

Here's what happened when they met.

Chris Mason says his comments are something of a verbal tick - an attempt to move a conversation on from pleasantries to the substance of the meeting.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, PA Media

Conservative MPs are considering ditching everything - ditching the mini-budget and Kwasi Kwarteng, alongside every other conceivable nuclear option.

It's the 38th day that this prime minister has been in office, but astonishingly the end of days vibe has been loitering around her for some time already.

The mini-budget is the central essence of her political identity. Some wonder if you lose one, do you effectively lose the other?

The power sits on the Conservative backbenches, rather than with the government at the moment, such was that collapse in authority that happened at the party conference last week with the about-turn on the tax rates for the best paid.

The response of the government was of “gosh we’d better listen”.

Now, because of that listening exercise, and also the countdown until Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's fiscal announcement on 31 October, there is this pause until we hear further decisions.

And hence you have a conversation along the lines of, how can the government make the numbers add up?

And so some MPs are saying they’ll have to junk the budget, and if that goes, Truss too, either literally, or at the very least her political identity, what she stands for.

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has acknowledged that recent turmoil in the financial markets is linked to the mini-budget.

“The markets of course did respond to the Chancellor’s mini-Budget. I have not said that isn’t the case," he told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme.

"The point I am making is many of the challenges we are facing are challenges shared by countries around the world."

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly wouldn't be drawn on any suggestion that there would be further U-turns on the mini-budget, despite concerns from MPs in his own party.

He said people should not have been surprised by Liz Truss's plans for growth.

The UK was facing "powerful and negative economic headwinds" along with other countries, Cleverly said, and argued that "the way out of that is to stimulate growth".

He then repeated the key points of the prime minister's plan.

The government would make "professional and tough decisions" on public spending he said, adding "we're not going to be cutting public services" but some areas would see "close to inflation growth".