Full exchange: Keir Starmer accuses Liz Truss of being ‘lost in denial’ over market turmoil
The chancellor may “simply have to come forward with a further rowing back of the tax announcements”, senior Tory MP Mel Stride has told the Commons.
Asking whether the possibility of further U-turns is still “on the table”, treasury minister Chris Philp replied in saying there are “not any plans to reverse any of the tax measures announced in the growth plan” – but said the chancellor would spell out exactly how he would balance the books on 31 October.
It comes after prime minister Liz Truss faced MPs for the first time since her chancellor’s mini-budget was blamed for unleashing commotion in the markets and sending the pound into freefall.
Ms Truss was forced to defend the credibility of her economic plan, which is focused on borrowing money to fund growth-boosting measures – a vision now overshadowed by Kwasi Kwarteng’s U-turn over plans to scrap the top rate of tax.
In the wake of Today’s PMQs, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves compared the “unfunded tax cuts” in the mini-Budget to a bonfire spreading out of control, likening the Tories to “pyromaniacs”.
