Under-fire Liz Truss has pulled out of a planned visit this afternoon as a sixth Tory MP publicly called for her resignation in the Commons.
A No10 source said the Prime Minister was engaged with "government business" - but did not give a specific reason for the cancellation of the trip.
The Prime Minister had also been due to take questions from journalists while meeting with a manufacturer specialising in defence and aerospace technology in Hertfordshire.
News of the cancellation came after No 10 emailed reporters at 12.56pm to say the Prime Minister would use the event to "hear from the kind of businesses driving UK innovation and growth."
"The Prime Minister remains committed to going for growth and ensuring we’re supporting companies to flourish," the email added.
Earlier Ms Truss repeated her apology to MPs at Prime Ministers' Questions days after ripping her economic pledges and sacking her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng amid turmoil in the financial markets.
Trying to reassert her authority, Tory whips declared on Wednesday a Labour vote over fracking policy tonight will be a “motion of confidence” in her government.
Labour said traditionally, that would mean if the government lost the vote, the Prime Minister would resign and the government would fall.
But a sixth MP, William Wragg, defied orders to fall in line by explicitly calling for Ms Truss to quit - telling the Commons he had “lodged” a letter of no confidence.
In a double blow, he said he would have rebelled in tonight’s fracking vote - but won’t, because he doesn’t want to lose the whip and have the number of no confidence letters fall.
Mr Wragg told MPs: “I cannot go and face my constituents, look them in the eye and say they should support my great party. And the polls seem to bear that out.”
While only six MPs have publicly called for Ms Truss to quit, dozens more say she should go in private and others have challenged her authority.
She was barraged by Tories in the Commons today over reports she will fail to raise benefits with inflation, fail to meet pledges on foreign aid, and delay a cap on care costs.
One Tory MP, Robert Largan, wrote of “dumpster fires” yesterday while another, Steve Double, today warned the PM will soon “have to consider her position and step aside”.
He told Times Radio: “Increasingly I think [due to] the loss of confidence in her from the parliamentary party, we are going to get to the point where she really does have to consider her position and for the good of the country, step aside.
“And I think we will probably come to that place quite soon."
Ms Truss confirmed in a PMQs U-turn that she would raise pensions in line with 10.1% inflation - 24 hours after Downing Street announced it was up for review.
Yet she refused to say working-age benefits or even carers’ allowance would rise by 10.1%, sparking anger from some MPs.
Mr Double urged the PM to protect an inflation rise not just to pensions, but also working-age benefits like Universal Credit.
He added: “We should not be balancing the books for the situation that we now find ourselves in, off the backs of those who need that support the most.”
Tory MP John Baron urged her to “retain compassion in politics in these decisions, including maintaining the link between benefits and inflation”.
Conservative former minister James Cartlidge said "we should all be very concerned" after reports that a cap on social care costs could be delayed.
And former Aid Secretary Andrew Mitchell urged her to stick to the Tory manifesto pledge to spend 0.7% of national income on foreign aid.
Tory MP Miriam Cates said she did not know if Liz Truss should lead the party into the next election.
She told GB News: “I don't know. I mean, I think the polling is really bad.
“I don't think we should always be following the polling and we shouldn't be creating our policy off the back of polling.
“But I think that the key thing I would like to see her and the government address is this realignment that got us elected to office in 2019.”
Even Tory supporters of Liz Truss have been turning against the PM.
One MP last week told the Mirror their “hysterical” colleagues had a “death wish” adding: “It’s not as bad as everyone makes out."
But today the MP said: "That was before Kwasi was sacked. Now, I don't know."
The MP predicted Liz Truss would not be ousted immediately - but suggested there were doubts over her future.
One desperate minister even tried to blame the economic chaos on “the ideas of the Labour Party ” that “government should spend more” - despite Tories being in power for 12 years.
“It is because of the rise of the Labour party, it is because of the rise of social democratic ideas”, Steve Baker told BBC Politics Live.
