Liz Truss could be out of No10 in days as the Tories plot to oust her.
Earlier today, she fired Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng before doing a second U-turn on taxes in a bid to calm the markets.
But the economic turmoil continued after she told a press conference: “The mission remains the same.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “We need a change in government.”
Ms Truss is now desperately clinging to power as Tory MPs scramble to find a way to replace a Prime Minister who they say has made their party a “laughing stock”.
Ministers serving in her Cabinet are now debating whether to quit to force her out.
One former Cabinet minister said: “Liz has reached the point of no return.
“This is done. Everyone agrees. It might take them a few weeks to work out what to do, but it’s over. She’s not in power any more.
“They don’t have an economic plan. We will see resignations in the next week or two.”
After her mini-Budget last month triggered economic meltdown, Ms Truss tried to appease the party and the markets by sacking her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng.
Ms Truss then held a press conference where she announced her second major U-turn, raising corporation tax to 25%, after scrapping plans to abolish the 45% rate for the highest earners.
She also revealed Jeremy Hunt, a former health secretary, would replace Mr Kwarteng. But she said she would stick to her growth plan, saying: “The mission remains the same.”
After a press conference lasting all of eight minutes in which she took just four questions, the humiliated PM walked off, as journalists shouted: “Aren’t you going to say sorry?”
Leaked messages from Tory MPs’ WhatsApp groups showed backbenchers’ furious response to her robotic performance.
One said: “Enough. Emergency repair needed for our party and country.”
They also urged Penny Mordaunt, a serving Cabinet minister, and Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor, to “step forward” and take the helm “with our support and encouragement in the interests of all of us”.
Senior Conservatives now believe the party’s rules will be changed so MPs pick the next leader without balloting the membership.
A party source said: “There’s no reason you couldn’t do it in a day. People will jump up and down, but the economy is in freefall.”
The press conference had done nothing to calm the markets, the pound falling before recovering slightly to $1.12, and government borrowing costs rising as the yield on 30-year government bonds reached 4.7%.
In her leadership campaign, Ms Truss had pledged not to go ahead with previous Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s £19billion plan to raise corporation tax from 19% to 25% in April.
Tory MP Sir Christopher Chope said Ms Truss’s decision to go ahead with the rise made the Tories a “laughing stock”. He told TimesRadio: “I’m probably like a lot of real Conservatives in a state of despair and utter disbelief, frankly.”
Ex-Tory Chancellor Lord Hammond said the events of the past weeks had wrecked the party’s reputation for fiscal discipline and left Ms Truss’s growth agenda “in tatters”.
He suggested the PM would survive in No10 only because Tory MPs did not want a general election they knew they would lose.
He told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One: “I’m afraid we’ve thrown away years and years of painstaking work to build and maintain a reputation as a party of fiscal discipline and competence in government.”
After unveiling the U-turn on corporation tax, Ms Truss said: “We will get through this storm.” But she refused to apologise to her party for the economic turmoil and twice swerved questions over whether she would resign. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: “It’s time for a general election.”
Labour leader Keir Starmer said: “ Liz Truss ’s reckless approach has crashed the economy, causing mortgages to skyrocket, and has undermined Britain’s standing on the world stage. We need a change in government.”
Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “The only decent thing Tory backbenchers can do now is call time on Liz Truss and this entire UK Government.”
