Image source, Simon

Simon in Cambridgeshire owns a small business producing cider, and also works in two additional part-time jobs.

Speaking to Radio 5 Live, he says the government's "constant" U-turns are "really hard work".

"The whole thing is chaotic," he says, "businesses have an inability to make proper decisions, based on proper facts, based on proper numbers."

"We need to be looking after people, we need to be making sure people aren't dying from hunger or cold or worrying themselves into the grave.

"That's what's happening every time we get new announcements of measures and taxes... no country should be in this state."

David Brown
Visual Journalism Team

There has been some movement in the betting on who might succeed Liz Truss as prime minister if she loses her grip on power.

Image source, .

Bookmakers calculate that Defence Secretary Ben Wallace's chances have receded after reports suggested he wanted to continue in his current role.

But Penny Mordaunt's chances rose after her appearance in the Commons yesterday. Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak remains the favourite.

Conservative MP Rachel Maclean says it's "incumbent" on all Conservative MPs to support the Prime Minister Liz Truss.

The minister of state for victims and vulnerability says there is an accepted process for electing a leader, "and now it's incumbent on all of us, including myself as a minister, and others to support the prime minister."

Speaking to Radio 4's World at One as doubts over Truss's leadership circulate among members of her own party, Maclean says: "The prime minister has been clear that mistakes were made, she's been upfront and honest about that and she's taken accountability and I welcome that."

She adds that it's "vital" that the Conservative Party "now do work as a team so that we can project a sensible set of policies to the electorate and to the market.

"That's how we go forward and we build that platform for growth in the future."

The summary of this morning's cabinet meeting issued by Downing Street says the chancellor made clear to ministers that public spending would continue to rise overall.

However, Jeremy Hunt said that departments continue to be asked to look at finding ways to save taxpayers’ money.

He said public spending stands at around £1 trillion currently.

The chancellor said efficiencies should focus on areas which would not affect the service the public receives.

The government's Energy Price Guarantee was originally put in place for two years - to limit the price that suppliers could charge for each unit of energy. Now that will only be in place for six months, just to cover this winter. Your total bill will still depend on how much energy you actually use.

For tips on saving money on your energy bills now, BBC consumer affairs correspondent Colletta Smith has picked out some of the simple ways to cut costs in your home.

The Chief Executive of Citizens Advice in England and Wales says she is concerned about the level of crisis among people already coming to them for help, following on from the chancellor’s announcement that support with energy bills will be reduced from April.

Dame Clare Moriarty says the charity is currently helping two people every minute to access crisis support including food bank vouchers and charitable donations.

“We’re hearing from clients who are going to turn on the heating for Christmas as a treat," she tells the BBC.

"The energy price guarantee provided at least some protection for people who are now really worried about what’s going to happen when that runs out in April."

She says many people will see bills rising, and in the absence of any detail on support measures, that “translates into anxiety”.

She says the government should increase benefits in line with inflation, adding that people “struggling to make ends meet are not going to be able to survive with a real terms cut in their income”.

If plotters can't agree, the PM stays in placepublished at 13:37 British Summer Time 18 October 2022

13:37 BST 18 October 2022

Nick Eardley
Chief political correspondent

There is deep unrest in the Conservative Party and active debate about whether and when to try and get rid of Liz Truss as prime minister.

Some MPs think it’s urgent and she should be removed as soon as possible.

One former cabinet minister tells me: "Whatever happens, it has to happen soon."

There is a hope that if more than half of Conservative MPs tell Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee of backbenchers which oversees the election of party leaders, that they want the prime minister to go, he would make it clear to her.

Some have sent in letters on that basis.

"I’ve met people who say they’ve put letters in – who have never done it before," one MP says.

Other MPs believe the prime minister has bought herself some time with the appointment of Jeremy Hunt as chancellor and the dumping of the growth plan.

They want to see what happens on Halloween, when the new chancellor is due to give another statement on the government's economic plans.

But one also poses the question: "Do you want her on your leaflets [at the next election]? No."

Image source, Reuters

However two things go in the PM's favour:

1. Some MPs are desperate for a bit of calm and want to give Hunt space
2. There is no agreement on who should replace her

One person who backed Truss for the leadership agrees she is unlikely to lead the party into next election.

But they add: "You’re often defined by what your opponents can’t do."

If the plotters can’t agree, the PM will stay in place.

We've been hearing about how the government's recent U-turns on the mini-budget announcements are affecting some of you, amid worries about the cost of living.

Suzette Sims, who runs the Butchers Arms pub in Alltwen, Swansea, is angry about the change in energy bills support, which has been cut from two years to six months.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales, she said she felt "devastated" by the news.

"We’ve been through the pandemic, the fuel costs, the rising costs of all the food, and now we face this," she said.

"I don’t sleep very much in the nights anymore... I don’t know where to look, I literally don’t know where to find some help."

She said the situation was "desperate," and that Prime Minister Liz Truss's apology for her government's mistakes was "far too late".

"I’ve already been generated a bill, and there’s no way to go forward.

"The government are fighting between themselves constantly, and we are here, we are not having any help.

"I don’t know how we’re going to pay these bills."

Nick Eardley
Chief political correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The chancellor used this morning’s cabinet meeting to tell ministers of the scale of spending cuts which are coming.

He is currently preparing tax hikes and spending reductions to be announced at the end of the month.

The extent of the black hole in government finances means he needs to find tens of billions to balance the books.

There could be trouble ahead on this.

Backbenchers who despaired over the tax burden under Rishi Sunak are likely to be facing an even bigger one soon.

Cabinet ministers will not be happy to see their budgets slashed.

For some, it could be a resigning issue.

That includes Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, who has made it clear he wants his budget to increase in line with promises made by the prime minister over the summer.

A source close to Wallace said they are working on the basis that defence spending will be 2.5% of GDP by 2026 – and 3% by 2030.

“Current world events, and allies' commitments show that defence is not a 'discretionary' spend but a priority” the source added.

The chancellor is insisting all departments find savings.

If the Conservative Party changes its leader there needs to be a general election, Labour leader Keir Starmer says.

"They surely can’t change the person at the top again without asking the public what they think of this," he tells Radio 2's Jeremy Vine programme.

"We can't go on like this, shutting the public out, and I think many people now feel that the real risk now is carrying on with this lot rather than actually having a general election, bringing in a Labour government and securing our economy. That's the first thing that absolutely needs to be done."

Starmer says the government has “no economic policy” and its “credibility is shot through".

He adds that the U-turns in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's statement yesterday were things that Labour had already been calling for, but that his party would go further on a windfall tax on energy companies, scrap plans to lift the cap on bankers' bonuses and make changes to non-dom status, which allows an individual to avoid paying UK tax on earnings from outside the country.

Pete Saull
Political Correspondent, BBC Westminster

I’m told Liz Truss held a meeting with ministerial aides known as “parliamentary private secretaries” in Downing Street this morning.

The role of PPS is unpaid, but it’s considered an important stepping stone for ambitious MPs.

The job is essentially to be the eyes and ears of a minister in parliament, feeding back concerns from backbenchers.

Many of those in the meeting this morning were first elected in 2019 and could be under serious threat of losing their seats the next time the UK goes to the polls.

In the dying days of Boris Johnson's premiership, a large number of PPSs resigned, hastening his departure. So they can be a powerful force.

However, one of the MPs present denied that the talks with the current prime minister were designed to shore up support.

They told me the meeting was “pre-planned” and the mood was “calm.”

As you'll know by now, the government has scrapped most of the key elements of its mini-budget after just over two weeks.

But why did it have to respond to the turmoil in the financial markets and why does this matter to mortgage payers and everyone else?

We've produced a simple guide - click here for an easy take on what is a very complicated story.

One of those leaving No 10 after the cabinet meeting was Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan.

Faced with a wall of reporters, she was asked if the PM had the backing of her ministers.

It's difficult to hear how she responded but we're checking with her office.

Note: This post has been updated. The PA News agency originally reported Trevelyan had responded "probably" to the question but now say it's unclear.

Image source, Reuters

If Liz Truss and Jeremy Hunt can work effectively together, the prime minister will lead the Conservative Party into the next election, a former minister says.

Andrew Mitchell, a close ally of Hunt, says it has "not been a great start" for the government but the PM has now appointed a "highly effective" chancellor.

"They are now working together in tandem and I think that arrangement has got to be given the chance to work," he tells BBC Two's Politics Live.

Asked who is in charge, the chancellor or PM, Mitchell says "the two of them are working together".

On whether Truss can lead the party into the next election, Mitchell says if she works together successfully with her chancellor, she can.

This morning's cabinet meeting appears to have finished, with ministers filing out of No 10.

Although Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg appeared cheerful, joking with reporters, most ministers were grim-faced and refused to answer questions about whether they backed the prime minister.

We'll bring you all the latest on what they discussed when we get it.

Image source, Reuters

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance correspondent

The markets’ reaction to Jeremy Hunt’s statement is expected to ultimately ease some of the pressure on fixed mortgage rates, but the effect is not immediate.

In fact, the average rate for two and five-year mortgages has risen slightly in the last 24 hours, according to the latest figures from financial information service Moneyfacts.

A typical two-year fixed deal now has a rate of 6.53%. The choice of mortgage products also dipped slightly.

One lender which has just increased rates is NatWest, which partially cited “recent application volumes”.

Brokers say there is still demand for mortgages, and money to lend, but providers are wary of being swamped with applications while uncertainty remains.

That is one reason why they are playing relatively safe for now.

Image source, .

Just 10% of Britons have a favourable opinion of the Prime Minister Liz Truss, according to a recent poll by YouGov.

The poll - carried out over the weekend - shows a drop in the number of people who view Truss favourably, down from 15% in a previous YouGov survey conducted earlier in the week.

The poll also found that among those who voted Conservative in the 2019 general election, just one in five (20%) have a favourable view of the party’s current leader and 71% have an unfavourable view.

The survey was taken after Truss sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor and U-turned on the decision to cut corporation tax at the end of last week.

But time moves fast in politics. Yesterday Truss apologised for the "mistakes" she made in announcing the mini-budget. Further U-turns were also announced by the new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

All the events we've been reporting on in Westminster have consequences for everyone's cost of living.

This afternoon the News Channel will be putting your questions to consumer experts on what to do about outgoings like energy bills and the squeeze on households' finances.

Your Questions Answered will be at 2.30pm.

Get in touch by emailing yourquestions@bbc.co.uk or on social media using #bbcyourquestions.

Despite reversing £32bn of tax cuts, new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt still needs to find billions of pounds more in savings to balance the government's books.

That means some options for cutting spending or increasing tax which have previously been ruled out could be back on the table. They include:

Pensions triple lock

Prime Minister Liz Truss has previously said she is committed to the triple lock - which means the state pension is guaranteed to increase each year in line with whichever is highest out of inflation (price rises), wages or 2.5%. However, asked in the Commons yesterday if he could confirm this pledge, Hunt refused to do, instead saying he would not make any commitments on individual policy areas.

Defence spending

Hunt also failed to guarantee that the government would deliver on its commitment to spend 3% of GDP on defence. He told MPs any rise in defence spending "has to be an increase that we can sustain over very many years". But breaking this pledge could cause issues for the government - Armed Forces Minister James Heappey has said he would quit if there was a U-turn on the commitment.

Windfall tax

Truss has repeatedly ruled out a further windfall tax on energy companies. But yesterday Hunt told MPs he was "not against the principle" of windfall taxes - a one-off tax on firms lucky enough to benefit from something they were not responsible for.

Ministers have been arriving at Downing Street for a cabinet meeting, where the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, is expected to discuss the need to agree on savings.

We'll bring you all the latest as we get it.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters