A summary of today's developments
Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, said the government has abandoned the plan in the mini-budget to abolish the 45% top rate of income tax. He claimed the proposal has become a “distraction from our overriding mission to tackle the challenges facing our country”. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, says the U-turn has come too late, because the mini-budget is already leading to higher mortgages for families.
In another reversal, the Guardian understands Kwasi Kwarteng will speed up plans for a new fiscal statement, expected to be focussed on spending and deregulation. It will now take place later this month, rather than November 23, accompanied by new forecasts from the Office of Budget Responsibility, in another move designed to restore market stability.
Jacob Rees-Mogg has announced the UK’s first prototype nuclear fusion power station will be built in Nottinghamshire by 2040.
The government “will be replacing GDPR (general data protection regulation) with our own business and consumer friendly British data protection system,” culture secretary Michelle Donelan announced.
Jacob Rees-Mogg has declared “if people want to call me Tory scum, I don’t mind”. He told the Tory conference: I wanted to thank you for giving me almost a warmer welcome as I got outside the hall. “But I think that’s rather marvelous, I happen to think that having a democracy where you can actually walk through the streets and people can exercise their right to peaceful protest shows the strength of our society. “And if people really want to call me Tory scum, I don’t mind.”
The Conservative party conference centre was locked down for about an hour and a half due to a security scare. Police locked all entrances and exits at about 3.30pm with ministers among those forced to wait outside. The lockdown caused widespread disruption to events inside and outside the conference venue, which is being held at Birmingham’s International Convention Centre. The type of the security scare is unknown.
Liz Truss packed her cabinet with “cronies off the backbenches” rather than competent ministers with a range of views, and appeared to have no coherent plan behind her mini-budget, Michael Heseltine said.
Schools minister Jonathan Gullis has told a fringe meeting at the Conservative party conference he is hoping that legislation to lift the current ban on new grammar schools in England will be brought forward before the next election. Gullis, a former teacher who has campaigned to scrap the ban and allow more grammar schools in England, told an Education Policy Institute event there was no date set and he didn’t know if it would be in this parliamentary session.
Downing Street said Liz Truss still has confidence in the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng. At the lobby briefing in London, asked if Truss has confidence in her chancellor, the prime minister’s spokesperson told reporters: “Yes.”
Updated
Senior Conservative officials have accused West Midlands police of failing to do enough to keep protesters away from delegates at the party conference, a leaked letter reveals.
The disclosure comes just hours after the police were forced to lock down the conference in central Birmingham for several hours after a security scare. Police say they have been shortchanged by over £500,000 on the costs of keeping the conference in Birmingham secure.
Jake Berry, the Conservative party chair, and Darren Mott, party chief executive, sent a letter on Sunday evening to the police and crime commissioner for the West Midlands raising “serious concerns” over security around the conference.
