Michael Gove today signalled he could revolt over Liz Truss's “wrong” plans to cut tax for the rich - and benefits for the poor.
The top Tory demanded a “course correction, a reset” over scrapping the 45p Income Tax rate - which “will benefit millionaires but not ordinary working people”.
"It's going to be very, very, very difficult to argue that it’s right to reduce welfare when we're also reducing taxes for the wealthiest,” he added, after Liz Truss refused repeatedly to rule out a real-terms benefits cut.
“Of course you’ve got to keep a tight ship, but we need to make sure the changes that we make are in tune with the values on which Boris won the 2019 election, which are looking after the most vulnerable in our society, making sure we’re all in this together.”
Speaking at Onward think-tank event, the former cabinet minister added: "Conservatives have a reputation for being prudent and careful. Sometimes audacity is required.
"But if we lose our reputation for prudence and care, then that opens the door to a left wing government being reckless in a way that we will all in this room think was a mistake."
The former Cabinet minister said funding Liz Truss's pledges with £72bn of borrowing in one year was “not Conservative”.
Mr Gove had already refused to rule out voting against the Budget. At a Chopper's Politics Live fringe for the Telegraph, he refused to rule it out three more times.
"I've never voted against the Conservative whip - and I want therefore to make sure that we can have a civilised conversation about priorities," he warned.
Asked what he would do if the vote was tomorrow, he replied: “It’s not tomorrow, so there’s plenty of time for that conversation to take place.”
He added: “I very strongly believe that the majority Boris won in 2019 was a One Nation majority.
“People wanted Brexit done but they also wanted levelling up, they wanted a Conservative government that was dedicated to improving the lives of those that hadn’t necessarily been traditional Conservative voters, and certainly weren’t among the wealthiest in our society.
“We’ve got to, I think, stay true to that tradition and recognise that people who lent us their vote in 2019 wanted to see a compassionate, One Nation Conservative government.”
The ex-minister warned “we’re at a time of uncertainty and turbulence” and “people are worried about our standard of living and worried about the future of the economy.”
Mr Gove denied the Tories were “imploding” and told the Mirror he was not yet talking to other backbench MPs about mini-Budget votes.
But the Tory Reform Group tweeted that his comments were “completely correct.
“The 2019 election manifesto is something the voters endorsed across the country, the new Government needs to stick to it and deliver it.”
Meanwhile Liz Truss faces fresh battle lines with Tory MPs after Mr Gove blasted her plans to end the ban on new grammar schools.
The former Education Secretary warned grammars favour richer families and expanding them "would not raise standards".
In a fresh Tory split over policy, he warned at the conference fringe event: "If we talk about grammar schools, what we're saying is we're only interested in 25% or 30% of children.”
He went on: “We should not be looking backwards into an educational situation where we're dividing children between those destined for success, and those who were overlooked.
“We need to make sure every child has an outstanding education. That is the truly Conservative answer.”
Mr Gove made his comments as Tory chairman Jake Berry warned any Conservative MP voting against the Budget could lose the whip.
Mr Berry told the same event it would “absolutely not” be a free vote and insisted the 45 tax rate cut “was the right thing to do”.
Promising “a rising Spring tide across our UK of growth that floods through every door” he urged Tory MPs to keep the party “stable”.
But he admitted the party had “got a better job to do with it, in truth” to explain Liz Truss’s pro-growth policies.
He added on the “normal election calendar”, the next election will be in May 2024, but did not name a specific date.
Meanwhile, families who allow fracking in their areas should get "cash off" their energy bills, the Tory chairman said.
Mr Berry - the MP for Rossendale and Darwen in fracking hotspot Lancashire - said he would back the incentive to encourage locals to back shale gas.
He told a fringe event at the party conference: "I actually support fracking as long as it’s proven to be safe. Where a community takes the burden of fracking, they also have to take some of the benefit.
“So I don’t know what the people of Blackpool South will say when they have their local referendum, or when they get information on how they will get the benefits of fracking.
“To me it feels like it should be cash off your bill. It will depend what the government decides, but that to me seems like the most direct way we can help people."
