No 10 warns of ‘difficult decisions’ on public spending despite Truss’s vow to avoid cuts – as it happened

5.45pm BST

Afternoon summary

• Liz Truss has said the Conservatives will push ahead with tax cuts without cutting public spending, instead allowing borrowing to rise over the next few years.

• But Truss is under increasing pressure to delay some of the unfunded tax cuts in the mini-budget. The Tory chair of the Commons Treasury committee, Mel Stride, has said Truss’s pledge on public spending today has made this more essential. (See 4.54pm.) And Damien Green, the former first secretary of state, told the PM programme that Tory MPs are discussing the need for a U-turn of this kind. He said:

If you do need some big numbers to change, one of the obvious ways would be possibly to defer some of the tax cuts or the failure to put taxes up and move some of those further to the right-hand side of the column. That would save billions in the early years because I imagine a lot of the changes will have to be in the later years of this five year plan.

Kitty Donaldson from Bloomberg says that in private some Tory MPs are saying a U-turn of this kind is inevitable.

NEW: I’ve spent the afternoon chatting to Tory MPs and some think a u-turn on tax cuts is inevitable https://t.co/pBE8bFvdY1

— Kitty Donaldson (@kitty_donaldson) October 12, 2022

• The cost of government borrowing has continued to soar after the Bank of England said it would end its emergency bond-buying programme on Friday as planned, countering claims it was considering an extension.

• Senior economists have dismissed Truss’s chances of reaching 2.5% economic growth in the next few years, as they said her government’s “guerrilla tactics” in last month’s mini-budget played a major role in spooking markets.

• Fracking and drilling for new oil and gas in the North Sea is green and good for the environment, Graham Stuart, the climate minister, has said.

Liz Truss at PMQs today. Photograph: Jessica Taylor/UK PARLIAMENT/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 5.56pm BST

5.45pm BST

From the polling company Redfield and Wilton Strategies

Labour leads by 13% in the Blue Wall.

Blue Wall Voting Intention (7-8 October):

Labour 41% (+20)
Conservative 28% (-22)
Liberal Democrat 24% (-3)
Green 4% (+3)
Reform UK 3% (New)
Other 1% (–)

Changes +/- 2019 General Electionhttps://t.co/VW5kBf68iV pic.twitter.com/Hzvq0qvSnf

— Redfield & Wilton Strategies (@RedfieldWilton) October 12, 2022

Starmer leads Truss by 17% in the Blue Wall.

At this moment, which of the following do Blue Wall voters think would be the better PM for the UK? (7-8 October)

Keir Starmer 43%
Liz Truss 26%
Don't Know 31% https://t.co/VW5kBf68iV pic.twitter.com/O3fph39OsH

— Redfield & Wilton Strategies (@RedfieldWilton) October 12, 2022

Updated at 5.57pm BST