There has been some speculation that Ben Wallace, who has been the defence secretary since 2019, could replace Liz Truss as prime minister should she resign.

He's in the US today, discussing Ukraine with his counterparts there. But before he left, set out to quashed those rumours.

Speaking to The Times, Wallace said he will be holding on to his current job, external.

He added people want the government to show "stability and security", or else the Tories will be sent to opposition.

And Wallace accused his Conservative colleagues of playing "political parlour games".

Catching up? Here's Liz Truss insisting she will lead the Tories into the next general election, despite the continued fallout from the mini-budget.

The prime minister apologised for making mistakes, after the new chancellor axed almost all of her tax-cutting plans yesterday.

She spoke to the BBC's political editor, Chris Mason.

Nick Eardley
Chief political correspondent

After all the U-turns, there are plenty of difficult decisions still to come for Downing Street.

The chancellor is to tell cabinet ministers that they need to agree to savings by the end of the week. That will be unpopular with many voters - and many Conservative MPs.

The chancellor is refusing to commit to some big pledges - the pensions triple lock, raising benefits by inflation, increasing defence spending in line with Ms Truss’s pledges during the leadership contest.

Then there’s energy bills. The government said it needed to provide certainty for two years - it’s just reduced that to six months.

The calculation the new Treasury team has made is this is all essential to end economic turmoil.

But the government is starting again with its economic plan. A lot of what it is now going to do will be painful and unpopular.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just getting your head into the last 24 hours of UK politics, here's a recap of where things stand:

• On Monday morning, Britain's new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ripped up Liz Truss's mini-budget - reversing most of the flagship tax cuts she introduced just weeks ago and only guaranteeing universal help with energy bills until April next year

• The quick change of direction was met by heavy criticism from Labour, who called on Truss to explain in Parliament why she had changed chancellors during the "current economic crisis"
• Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt stood in for the PM and said Truss was away "on urgent business". She added that the PM was not hiding "under a desk" and there had not been a leadership "coup"
• The PM met on Monday evening with the One Nation group of centrist Tory MPs and later hosted a reception for cabinet members
• Then, in an interview with the BBC's Chris Mason, Truss apologised for mistakes made but said she believed she would be leading the Conservatives into the next general election

And here's a summary of the reaction so far:

• A senior Tory told BBC Newsnight's political editor Nicholas Watt that about half of the party wants Truss gone
• Five MPs have now publicly called for the PM to resign

• This morning, minister James Heappey said Truss's apology showed leadership because "she owned it"
• Labour remain deeply sceptical of the new economic plan, and the Liberal Democrats are calling for a general election
• There are warnings that significant spending cuts could be on the table

The government representative doing the media rounds this morning is James Heappey, the Minister for Armed Forces and Veterans.

He says the prime minister has been quick to recognise the mistake that was made with the government's mini-budget, and has been "clear-eyed" with her response.

"She's owned it, she's apologised for it," Heappey tells the BBC.

He says that many people will "recognise that, in and of itself, to rip the plaster off and say we got this wrong and I'm sorry, is leadership in its own right".

He adds that there is still a "very significant intervention" on the government's part despite the U-turns.

"The National Insurance tax cut is still there, the stamp duty tax cut is still there, and most importantly of all the huge intervention on energy bills is still there too," he says.

Labour's shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has been on Breakfast TV, and says very many people will be "even more worried" after what the chancellor announced - in particular, the fact that energy bill help will be reduced from April and that he didn't commit to pensions or benefits rising with inflation.

"The only thing left from the prime minister's plan is higher mortgage rates and higher bonuses for bankers," she says.

Asked about whether the Labour party would get behind the government's revised plans she said "the lasting damage" has been done.

She says the government should expand windfall tax on oil and gas companies and use that to help keep energy bills low for longer, as well as abolishing the non-dom tax status and "use that money to invest in national health service".

Asked if she had sympathy for Liz Truss, Reeves said: "I don't want to sound uncaring but my priorities and my concerns are not with the prime minister" but with the people "worried about how they're going to pay their mortgage."

She said the prime minister "can put herself and all of us out of this misery by resigning and calling a general election".

The Conservative MP for North Dorset, Simon Hoare, says the tumultuous last few weeks in UK politics have been "perfectly foreseeable" and "self-inflicted".

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Hoare says that though Truss "is right" to talk about the international effects of the world economy on the UK's, "the recent weeks that we've had, these have been avoidable, perfectly foreseeable and therefore self-inflicted wounds, and that makes a lot of us incredibly upset."

Asked whether he thinks Truss could stand in the next general election, he says: "Never say never in politics".

He adds, however, that he is glad the "mild flirtation" with libertarian economics "has been strangled at birth".

Image source, Reuters

The chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, an independent think tank focusing on improving the living standards of low and middle-income families, says it looks like there are still "pretty significant" public spending cuts to come from the government.

Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, Torsten Bell says the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's announcement yesterday was a big change in rhetoric.

He said they'd gone from "focusing on tax cuts that'll lead to growth and happy days ahead, to a more traditional Tory message of 'tough decisions are coming'."

In terms of the cuts in energy bills support, he says the government is putting the burden back onto the public for volatile gas markets.

The chancellor's done the easy bit, he says, by scrapping the existing scheme.

"What he's now got to do is some hard work about how he intends to provide for lower and middle-income households next year."

First up in that morning round of interviews is Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey.

He says millions of struggling families are being hurt by the Conservatives' political and economic chaos and it's time for a general election.

He says the issues lie not just with Liz Truss, but the Conservative party as a whole.

"We lived through the nightmare of Boris Johnson's dishonesty, now have this incompetence - people are tired of this government," he tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He acknowledges that international conditions have put some pressure on prices and interest rates worldwide "but it's far worse in this country", he says.

On the chancellor's tax and spending U-turns announced yesterday, Davey says it looks like the chancellor and the Tories are going to "slash public spending and that's deeply troubling".

Cabinet meeting: It's another big day in government as Liz Truss will chair a meeting of her Cabinet in Downing Street this morning.

1922 Committee: The influential group of backbench MPs that oversees leadership challenges will elect two new MPs to its executive today. It's possible they could push for rule changes that will make it easier for those wanting to remove Truss.

Defence Committee on the US, UK and Nato: Defence Secretary Ben Wallace - who is seen as a leadership contender, but says he's not interested - will be in the US to meet with counterparts and discuss the recent Russian attacks on Ukraine.

That's what's in the diary today, but as we've all learned lately, we should expect the unexpected.

We'll be watching what MPs and ministers say in their usual round of morning interviews, as ever, and keeping across events in Westminster as the day goes on.

Stay with us.

Nick Eardley
Chief political correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The prime minister says she wants to lead her party into the next general election. But she isn’t in full control of that - and at the moment it’s very hard to see how she will.

There are some factors which act in her favour in the next few days. Many MPs are desperate for calm. There is no agreed successor who would unite the divided Conservative party at the moment.

But the word you hear around Westminster a lot is credibility. Does Liz Truss have any left? Could she really go to the electorate and promise to fulfil a manifesto? Do voters trust her?

A large number of Conservative MPs say no. Events over the next few days and weeks will be key in dictating how quickly they might move.

How will she perform at Prime Minister's Questions tomorrow? Will the cabinet fall in behind difficult spending cuts? What happens in the markets? How bad is the independent analysis of the country’s finances from the Office for Budget Responsibility?

The PM will do everything she can to turn her fortunes around. But many in her own party are determined Ms Truss will have to go before the next election.

Good morning, if you're just waking up, we're here for another day of political coverage after an extraordinary 24 hours in which the PM's new chancellor tore up her economic plan.

Liz Truss said last night that she won't be stepping down as prime minister, despite her premiership being in a perilous position following the fall-out from the mini budget.

In an interview with the BBC, Truss apologised for "mistakes" over the past six weeks - but insisted she would lead the Conservatives into the next general election.

But five Conservative MPs are openly calling for Liz Truss to resign -- with others briefing in private that her time in Downing Street is up.

Stick with us.

A Tory MP and former defence minister has called for more One Nation voices to be heard in government and for improved communication from No 10.

Tobias Ellwood said he hopes to see more of the likes of Jeremy Hunt and Greg Hands on the front benches.

Speaking after a One Nation meeting with Liz Truss at Westminster on Monday, the Tory MP said No 10 needs to continue the "reset" with better scrutiny and better communication.

"And then a fundamental recognition that what unites us all...is the core mission of the 2019 manifesto which was disrupted by Covid and indeed the Ukraine war", he told BBC Newsnight.

Mr Ellwood's call comes as the cabinet is due to meet on Tuesday morning.

Chris Mason
Political editor

Image source, No 10 Downing Street

There was a tense mood in the building.

Liz Truss knows. Her team knows. Even the dogs in the street know. She is in serious peril.

She is trying to make the best of a desperate situation for her.

• Click here to watch the full interview

And so to her future.

Will she lead the Conservatives into the next general election?

"I will lead the Conservatives into the next general election," she said.

Definitely?

"Well look, yeah," she said, laughing nervously. "I'm not focused on internal debates within the Conservative Party leader."

But she has to be, to stay in office.

Read more here

Nick Marsh
Asia Business Reporter, Singapore

Morning trade in Asia is a useful first gauge of what the world's financial markets make of yesterday's events in Westminster.

So far the pound's value has remained fairly stable, in fact it topped $1.14 for the first time in nearly two weeks. This indicates investors in this region were neither spooked nor buoyed by the massive policy overhaul announced by Jeremy Hunt.

It has to be said that Asian investors aren't huge pound watchers - the region has other significant economic priorities at the moment - but no news will be seen as good news from the British government's perspective.

But that doesn't mean investors here aren't aware of the significant challenges that lie ahead for the UK economy. A weakened prime minister, a government in turmoil and the looming threat of a global recession all signal potential volatility further down the line.

The majority of Tuesday's papers have led with the chancellor's reversal of tax cuts and the prime minister's attempts to rally support for her own survival.

Jeremey Hunt's "astounding" U-turn on tax, as he ripped up Liz Truss' economic plans, was observed by the PM in silence, some of the papers observe.

Ms Truss also acknowledged that she went "too far and too fast" with her strategy and apologised for the pain it had caused.

There were also reports from several MPs that Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, had received a "significant" number of letters of no confidence.

Here below are a few of the front pages.

Image source, Reuters

The director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think-tank has welcomed today's tax measure reversals, but said they won't be enough by themselves to "plug the gap" in the government’s fiscal plans or undo the damage caused by the "debacle of the last few weeks".

Paul Johnson said it's encouraging that the stamp duty cut and the increased annual investment allowance for corporation tax remain, describing them as "perhaps the most growth-friendly" measures.

He said the chancellor needed to priorities backing up his announcement with fiscal targets and a credible plan for meeting them on 31 October.

"Jeremy Hunt will still have to make some scary decisions on tax and spend this Halloween. And it remains hard to see where significant spending cuts could come from," he says.

He said with today’s policy reversals, the tax burden was again set to rise and stabilise at a "historically" high level.

Johnson said the plan to change the energy price guarantee was "especially welcome" as "we need to do everything possible to put in place a better designed, better targeted and less expensive scheme next year".

On Monday, Sir Charles Walker became the fifth Conservative MP to publicly call for Prime Minister Liz Truss to step down.

He told Sky News: "I think her position is untenable.

"She has put colleagues, the country, through a huge amount of unnecessary pain and upset and worry."

He joins Tory MPs Angela Richardson, Crispin Blunt, Andrew Bridgen and Jamie Wallis who have all stated publicly that Truss should resign.

Image source, Getty Images

If you're just joining us, here's a look at what happened on what has been described as "extraordinary" 24 hours in UK politics:

• On Monday morning, Britain's new chancellor Jeremy Hunt confirmed a reversal of several key policies in Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-budget

• This includes putting the planned 1p cut in the basic rate of income tax on hold indefinitely, with the rate remaining 20%
• Hunt also said the Energy Price Guarantee will no longer last two years, and will instead be reassessed in April
• A few plans will go ahead, like cancellation of the 1.25% increase in National Insurance contributions and the reduction in stamp duty

• The quick change of direction has been met by heavy criticism from Labour, who called on Liz Truss to answer for the "current economic crisis" in Parliament on Monday
• Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt stood in for the PM and said Truss was away "on urgent business". She added that the PM was not hiding "under a desk" and there had not been a leadership "coup"
• BBC Newsnight political editor Nicholas Watt says a senior Tory figure has told him about half of the party wants Truss gone
• Amid the criticism, the PM met on Monday evening with the One Nation group of centrist Tory MPs and later hosted a reception for cabinet members
• In an interview with the BBC's Chris Mason, Truss apologised for mistakes made but said she remains "completely committed to delivering for this country".
• Following Hunt's reversal in economic plans, shares in London rose. The FTSE 100 index, which ranks the biggest listed companies in the UK, ended 0.9% higher on Monday. The broader FTSE 250 index closed 2.8% higher.

The pound is holding above $1.13 after rising in response to new UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt reversing more of Liz Truss’ mini-budget.

The latest U-turn also helped boost the market for British government bonds.

Those moves, along with strong results from the Bank of America, helped to improve the mood on global stock markets.

The US benchmark S&P 500 index gained 2.65% on Monday, while share markets in Asia were also trading higher on Tuesday.