A summary of today’s developments
Kwasi Kwarteng’s response was “let’s see” when grilled about an imminent U-turn on his flagship cut to corporation tax. The chancellor told the Telegraph that ensuring corporation tax stayed “competitive” remained a “great idea”, but did not rule out increasing the current 19% rate. In response to a question about how markets “have improved today because they think you’re about to do a U-turn on corporation tax”, Kwarteng said: “Let’s see.”
The chancellor earlier said his “total focus is on delivering on the mini-budget” in response to speculation about a U-turn on the measures. Kwarteng said he is “not going anywhere”. Liz Truss is on the cusp of putting up corporation tax as part of a Downing Street plan to back down from the huge package of unfunded tax cuts in her mini-budget, sources claim.
Senior Conservatives are holding talks about replacing Liz Truss with a joint ticket of Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt as part of a “coronation” by MPs, according to The Times. Party grandees are understood to be in talks about replacing Truss with a “unity candidate”
Former home secretary Priti Patel has become the latest high-profile Tory MP to suggest the government could be forced into a further U-turn over the mini-budget. Patel was asked if Liz Truss’s commitment not to raise corporation tax should be reversed to calm the markets. “There is an irony to this,” Patel told Sky News. “In that market forces will probably dictate some of these changes now. “The market is going to dictate this, primarily because we want to see stability.”
The former Conservative chancellor George Osborne has questioned why Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng would wait till 31 October to perform an “inevitable U-turn” on their mini-budget. Osborne tweeted: “Given the pain being caused to the real economy by the financial turbulence, it’s not clear why it is in anyone’s interests to wait 18 more days before the inevitable u-turn on the mini budget.”
Labour MP Christina Rees has been stripped of the party whip after allegations of bullying her constituency staff, the Guardian can reveal. Rees, who was shadow Wales secretary during Jeremy Corbyn’s time as leader, will now sit as an independent in the House of Commons. It is understood that there will be an internal Labour party investigation into the allegations and Rees, the MP for Neath, will have her party membership suspended until the case is resolved.
Downing Street has refused to rule out the prospect that some government departments could face cuts to their budgets. Overall government spending will continue to rise in real terms, the PM’s official spokesperson said.
The latest YouGov/Times voting intention poll shows Labour maintaining the massive lead they opened up over the Conservatives last month. The figures show the Tories on 23% of the vote (up by one point from the previous poll) to Labour’s 51% (which is down one point).
Labour has pledged to ban fracking “once and for all” as it hit out at suggestions that the government could move to ban solar farms from much of England’s farmland.
The party intends to work with MPs who oppose fracking to force the government to maintain the ban, one of several issues to divide the Conservatives since Liz Truss became leader.
The new administration’s environmental commitments have come under severe scrutiny in recent weeks after lifting England’s fracking ban, in place since 2019 following a series of earth tremors, and giving the green light to the expansion of oil and gas operations in the North Sea.
Ed Miliband, Labour’s shadow climate secretary, will visit Bassetlaw on Friday to meet with the party’s candidate Jo White and local residents to listen to concerns about the potential for fracking in their area.
Labour is working to bring forward an opposition day motion to maintain the current ban, Miliband is expected to tell locals during his visit.
He said: “Labour will stand with communities in opposing the Conservatives’ dodgy plans to impose expensive, dirty, and dangerous fracking on the British people.
“Fracking would make no difference to energy prices, and could risk the health of local communities, nature, and water supplies.”
