The prime minister is fighting for her political survival after ditching a major chunk of the mini-budget and sacking her chancellor and close ally Kwasi Kwarteng.
But it is unclear whether Liz Truss’s gamble to stay in power will pay off, with financial markets remaining jittery and reports of a number of Tory MPs plotting to replace her.
After a tumultuous three weeks for the financial markets in the wake of Mr Kwarteng’s £45bn mini-budget tax giveaway, the PM acknowledged that “the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change”.
While his appointment was welcomed by some Tory MPs as “an experienced pair of hands”, others questioned why Mr Kwarteng was the one who had to go when he was pursuing policies Ms Truss espoused in her leadership campaign.
Image: Liz Truss appoints Jeremy Hunt as chancellor. Pic: Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
At a hastily-arranged news conference in Downing Street on Friday, Ms Truss dismissed calls for her resignation, saying she was “absolutely determined to see through what I have promised”.
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She announced she was abandoning Mr Kwarteng’s commitment to drop the planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25%, saving the Exchequer £18bn a year.
She also suggested a new squeeze on public spending which would “grow less rapidly than previously planned”.
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Do voters have confidence in Truss?
Ms Truss said it was a “down payment” on the medium-term fiscal plan on 31 October, when Mr Hunt will now set out how he intends to get the public finances back on track. It suggests further measures to plug the estimated £60bn void created by the mini-budget will have to follow.
“It is clear that parts of our mini-budget went further and faster than markets were expecting, so the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change,” she said.
“We will do whatever is necessary to ensure debt is falling as a share of the economy in the medium-term.”
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Analysing market reaction to latest U-turn
Voters’ response to her U-turn appeared reasonably favourable, with a snap poll by YouGov finding 49% of voters said Ms Truss was right to sack her chancellor.
Cabinet ministers also remained publicly loyal, tweeting their support for Ms Truss and her new chancellor.
But other Conservatives appeared to be divided over Ms Truss’s future as prime minister.
Heated messages were shared in Conservative Party WhatsApp groups after her news conference, with a screenshot sent to Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates showing Crispin Blunt calling for Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt to take over.
“Step forward Rishi and Penny, with our support and encouragement in the interests of us all,” it read.
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Kwarteng sacked after 38 days
There have also been multiple reports of Tory MPs and Conservative grandees plotting moves to force Ms Truss from Downing Street.
A source apparently close to Mr Kwarteng suggested that Ms Truss may only have bought herself a few more weeks in office, according to The Times.
Former leader Lord Hague warned that Ms Truss’s premiership “hangs by a thread”, while Conservative former chancellor Lord Hammond said the events of the past weeks had wrecked the party’s reputation for fiscal discipline.
During her news conference Ms Truss said she was “incredibly sorry” to lose Mr Kwarteng but insisted Mr Hunt shared her vision of a “high-growth, low-tax economy”.
But Mr Hunt’s appointment signals a major shift in policy direction – he is a more centrist figure than either Mr Kwarteng or Ms Truss and is unlikely to share their ideological free market commitment to tax cuts.
In July, Mr Hunt told Sky News cutting corporation tax was “not sexy, but necessary” as he backed plans to reverse the planned rises.
:: The new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will be speaking to Sky News from 7am today
Comedy writer Bill Dare, – who worked on shows including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers – has died after an accident overseas, his agent said.
Described as a “super producer” by his peers, Dare, 64, worked on eight series of hugely popular satire puppet show Spitting Image.
Airing on ITV during the 1980s and 1990s, the show delighted in lampooning public figures including politicians, celebrities and royalty, winning BAFTAs and Emmys. It was rebooted in 2020.
Dare also created Dead Ringers, a comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
He also produced The Now Show, a satirical take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.
Dare worked on a wide range of comedy shows during his career, including the radio production of The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had also written several novels.
In a statement released on Monday, his agent JFL Agency confirmed he died at the weekend.
A spokesperson said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.
“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”
Image: Oasis depicted on Spitting Image in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Colleagues were quick to pay tribute and reflect on his talent.
Impressionist Jon Culshaw wrote on X: “It’s impossible to express the unreal sense of loss at the passing of the incredible Bill Dare. The wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend. Much love to Lucy and all Bill’s family and friends. We shall all miss him more than we can say.”
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David Baddiel posted on the social media platform: “Just heard that the original producer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on radio, Bill Dare, has died. Bill was an amazing creative force. I owe him much. RIP.”
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Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “devastated” and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.
She wrote: “When I was on the BBC Radio 4 rep company early on in career – I ran into Bill in the corridors – He asked if I was good at accents. I said yes.
“He cast me in a sketch show. I had to do about 15 different accents. We recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House – afterwards Bill said ‘Why have I never met you – you’re going to have a big career’.
“He was incredibly loyal and supportive and really opened a path for me into the R4 comedy world and then TV having come out of the RSC and theatre it was all new. I will always be grateful. Fly high Bill.”
Comedian and writer Mark Steel wrote: “This is so grim. Bill was a compassionate hearty soul with the ability to be beautifully grumpy, a marvellously thoughtful comic mind.
“He’d argue but always listen and you’d always laugh, he made a million shows and wanted them all to matter and would have made a million more.”
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Have I Got News for You writer Pete Sinclair said: “I am utterly devastated by Bill’s death. I still can’t believe it. He was a comedy genius. A hugely talented writer as well as a brilliant producer. A close friend and co-writer. I cannot begin to say how much I’ll miss him.”
Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “I am so terribly sorry to hear this tragic news and my thoughts are with Bill’s wife, family and friends.
“Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.
“Bill was a comedy obsessive, and very instinctive about making the funniest choices when it came to writing, directing and editing.
“He cared so much about his work that in the production booth during Dead Ringers you’d see him crouched over the script, utterly focused on the show.
“He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.
“I’ve known and worked with him for 18 years and like many I can’t believe he has gone, he will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”
An ex-prison officer who boasted about performing a sex act on an inmate who “manipulated” her has been jailed.
Mother-of-one Katie Evans, 26, burst into tears in court as the judge described how she was “corrupted” by an “experienced criminal” not long after she started work at Doncaster Prison when she was just 21.
As well as starting an intimate relationship with the prisoner, Daniel Brownley, Evans had more than 140 phone calls with him, moved money around bank accounts for him, and supplied him with information the prison held on him, the court heard.
Brownley had been jailed in 2016 for attempted robbery, burglary and handling stolen goods, the court heard.
“It appears you indulged in some form of sexual activity in the prison. It has been described that on one occasion you had oral sex with him,” Judge Jeremy Richardson KC told Evans at Sheffield Crown Court.
“It is truly a terrible situation for a judge to be passing sentence on a former prison officer who has been branded a corrupt prison officer.”
Judge Richardson told Evans “he corrupted you and not the reverse”, adding: “I’m entirely satisfied you were manipulated by an experienced criminal to assist him.”
He said Evans was “young and immature” at the time but added: “Your misconduct materially affected the good order and discipline of the prison.”
“You were inexperienced and immature but that is, however, no excuse for what you did.”
Judge Richardson said the sentence of 21 months should have been longer but, “purely as an act of mercy”, he reduced it to take into account the effect it will have on Evans’ relationship with her young daughter and the difficulties she will have in prison as a former officer.
Evans, of Hatfield, Doncaster, admitted misconduct in a public office at a previous hearing.
Still crying, she waved at family members in the public gallery as she was led from the dock.