MPs will return to Westminster on Tuesday after a chaotic conference season, with the chancellor set to face questions for the first time since the fallout from his mini-budget.
Parliament has been in recess for over two weeks to allow the parties to hold their annual political gatherings, but will kick off at 2.30pm with Treasury Questions, meaning a likely early appearance from Kwasi Kwarteng at the dispatch box.
His economic policies will remain the focus of the Commons throughout the day as MPs debate his proposed reversal of the National Insurance rise – brought in earlier this year by former Chancellor Rishi Sunak to pay for health and social care.
And potential future policies are likely to be raised too, as the Conservative Party continues to argue over whether he and Prime Minister Liz Truss should raise benefits in line with inflation.
Mr Kwarteng’s economic announcements last month – which came on the final day of Commons business before the conference recess – sent the markets into turmoil.
The subsequent days saw the pound drop, mortgage products being withdrawn and the Bank of England having to step in to save some pension funds.
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Poll numbers for the Tories plummeted, with Labour recording approval ratings over 30 points ahead.
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Since the fall-out, which dominated the Tories’ own gathering in Birmingham, the chancellor and the prime minister have U-turned on their plan to scrap the top 45p tax rate for the wealthiest 1% and given into demands to bring forward their medium-term financial plan on how to pay for their £43bn of policy pledges.
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Labour has promised to “step up pressure” on the chancellor to scrap all the announcements from his “fantasy mini-budget” and is urging Tory MPs to work with them and speak out publicly to force the changes.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “This is a Tory crisis that has been made in Downing Street, and that is being paid for by working people.
“Families worried sick about bills haven’t even had so much as an apology from the prime minister or chancellor, the architects of chaos unleashed on the British economy and family finances.”
She added: “Labour have forced this Tory government to U-turn throughout the cost of living crisis and we will do all we can in our power to do so again to get them to reverse this disastrous, kamikaze budget.”
G7 meet over Ukraine
Meanwhile, the PM will take part in a virtual meeting with leaders of the G7 – the world’s seven richest nations – to speak out against continued Russian brutality in Ukraine and call for a full meeting of NATO leaders in the coming days.
Image: Prime Minister Liz Truss giving her speech at the Conservative Party’s annual conference last week
Ms Truss will urge the group not to waver in its support and is expected to say: “The overwhelming international support for Ukraine’s struggle stands in stark opposition to the isolation of Russia on the international stage.
“Their bravery in the face of the most brutal acts of violence has earned the people of Ukraine global admiration.
“Nobody wants peace more than Ukraine. And for our part, we must not waver one iota in our resolve to help them win it.”
Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada have come into effect, as has an additional 10% on Chinese products, bringing the total import tax to 20%.
The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US and European stocks down sharply.
The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.
Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.”
There’s “no room left” for a deal that would see the tariffs shelved if fentanyl flowing into the US is curbed by its neighbours, he added.
Mexico and Canada face tariffs of 25%, with 10% for Canadian energy, the Trump administration confirmed.
And tariffs on Chinese imports have doubled, raising them from 10% to 20%.
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Canada announced it would retaliate immediately, imposing 25% tariffs on US imports worth C$30bn (£16.3bn). It added the tariffs would be extended in 21 days to cover more US goods entering the country if the US did not lift its sanctions against Canada.
China also vowed to retaliate and reiterated its stance that the Trump administration was trying to “shift the blame” and “bully” Beijing over fentanyl flows.
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Mr Trump’s speech stoked fears of a trade war in North America, prompting a financial market sell-off.
Stock market indexes the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.48% and 2.64% respectively on Monday.
The share prices for automobile companies including General Motors, which has significant truck production in Mexico, Automaker and Ford also fell.
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Consumers in the US could see price hikes within days, an expert has said.
Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University, New York, said “the automobile sector, in particular, is likely to see considerable negative consequences”.
This is due to supply chains that “crisscross the three countries in the manufacturing process” and ” because of the expected increase in the price of vehicles, which can dampen demand,” he added.
A truck has collided with a bus in southern Bolivia, killing at least 31Â people, according to police – just two days after a deadly crash claimed at least 37 lives.
Officers said the bus rolled some 500m (1,640ft) down a ravine after the collision on Monday, which took place on the highway between Oruro, in the Bolivian Altiplano, and the highland mining city of Potosi.
The driver of the truck has been arrested, while the cause of the accident is under investigation.
Police spokesperson Limbert Choque said men and women were among the dead, and 22 people suffered injuries.
Image: Rescue teams operating at the site of the crash. Pic: Bolivia’s attorney general/Reuters
Bolivia’s President, Luis Arce, expressed condolences for the victims on social media: “This unfortunate event must be investigated to establish responsibilities,” he said in a post on Facebook.
“We send our most sincere condolences to the bereaved families, wishing them the necessary strength to face these difficult times.”
Image: The crash happened between Oruro and Potosi
On Saturday morning, a crash between two buses killed more than three dozen people in the same region.
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It happened between Colchani and the city of Uyuni, a major tourist attraction and the world’s largest salt flat.
Image: People stand near the wreckage of one of the two buses involved in a crash on Saturday. Pic: Reuters/Potosi Departmental Command
Coincidentally, one of the buses was heading to Oruro, where one of the most important carnival celebrations in Latin America is currently taking place.
More than 30 people were also killed after a bus crash on 17 February.
In that crash, police said the driver appeared to have lost control of the vehicle, causing it to drop more than 800m (2,600ft) off a precipice in the southwestern area of Yocalla.
Bolivia’s mountainous, undermaintained and poorly supervised roads are some of the deadliest in the world, claiming an average 1,400 fatalities every year.
The Pope has had two episodes of “acute respiratory failure”, the Vatican has said.
The 88-year-old has been in hospital since 14 February with a severe respiratory infection that triggered other complications.
The Vatican said the respiratory failures were caused by “significant accumulation” of mucus in his lungs and a “bronchospasm”, akin to an asthma attack.
Doctors were then required to perform two bronchoscopies – a test which sees medics use a long, thin, telescope with a light to look into the lungs – to evaluate the Pope’s air passages, the statement said.
“In the afternoon, non-invasive mechanical ventilation was resumed,” the Vatican continued. “The Holy Father has always remained vigilant, oriented and collaborative. The prognosis remains reserved.”
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Behind the scenes at the Vatican
The respiratory issues the Pope suffered today are due to an ongoing infection rather than a new one but he is not out of danger, they added.
Asked if the Pope is in good spirits, they gave no answer. When asked if the Vatican’s apartment is getting ready to welcome Francis back, the source said it was too premature to discuss this.
Earlier on Monday, Pope Francis issued a written message after Vatican officials begged him to let his voice be heard following more than two weeks out of public view.
He thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers, before praying for peace in Ukraine and elsewhere.
“From here, war appears even more absurd,” he wrote.
Image: People at a nightly rosary prayer for the Pope in St. Peter’s Square yesterday evening. Pic: AP
This has become the longest public absence of his 12-year papacy.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski presided over the evening rosary prayer in St Peter’s Square on Sunday night.
“Let us pray together with the entire church for the health of the Holy Father Francis,” he said.