- Kwasi Kwarteng news latest: Chancellor 'shouldn't resign' because 45p tax cut U-turn was 'political reality', says Jacob Rees-Mogg The Telegraph
- Kwasi Kwarteng suggests Liz Truss took decision to U-turn on 45p rate Guardian News
- Kwasi Kwarteng U-turns on plans to scrap 45p tax rate BBC
- Factbox: The UK's top tax rate - what is it and why does it matter? Reuters UK
- Markets and MPs will need more than a tax U-turn from Truss Financial Times
Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday promised “no more distractions” as he was forced to fight off calls to resign over the Government’s 45p tax rate U-turn.
The Chancellor said he and Liz Truss had “listened” to Tory MPs who were enraged by their plans to slash the top bracket of income tax paid by the most wealthy.
He opened a speech to the party conference in Birmingham by admitting he had endured a “tough” day but insisted: “We need to focus on the job in hand”.
Mr Kwarteng had initially planned to defend axing the 45p rate when he took to stage, but had to rewrite his address at the last minute.
“I can be frank. I know the plan put forward only 10 days ago has caused a little turbulence,” he told the party faithful as he shrugged off criticism.
“I get it. I get it. We are listening and have listened, and now I want to focus on delivering the major parts of our growth package.
“We need to move forward, no more distractions, we have a plan and we need to get on and deliver it.”
Mr Kwarteng insisted that the Tories will “always be on the side of those who need help the most”.
He also vowed the Conservatives will be “serious custodians of the public finances” after his tax cutting plans sparked chaos on the markets.
His speech came after No 10 was forced to issue a statement insisting that Ms Truss still has full confidence in her Chancellor.
The pair held crisis talks at her hotel suite late on Sunday night, when they agreed to ditch the policy with a revolt spreading amongst Tory MPs.
Mr Kwarteng insisted on Monday morning that he had “not at all” considered resigning but admitted the row had become a “terrible distraction”.
Jacob Rees-Mogg defended the Chancellor’s handling of the issue, saying that “tax decisions are often reversed” and “of course” he shouldn’t quit.
Appearing on Chopper’s Political Podcast at the Tory Conference, he said: “We live in a democracy and politicians have to be responsive to the democratic will.
“It was a political reality. I don’t blame anybody, these things happen. Sometimes things we want to do don’t receive the approbation of the nation that you would hope for.”
He dismissed the row as an “absurd distraction on what was the smallest part of the tax changes” outlined in the mini-budget.
“The Government needs to get on and focus on what is fundamental to the package and not the flotsam and jetsam,” he added.
Tory MPs welcomed the U-turn, but warned that severe damage had already been done to the party’s reputation and electoral chances.
Lord Frost, the former Brexit Secretary, said the Government must avoid policies that will “create a coalition of losers” in the runup to the next election.
“We should err away from things that we know are going to be highly controversial and where the losers are going to be extremely visible,” he said.
The Tory grandee, who supported Ms Truss, said it was an “open question” whether her administration can “move on from the last few days of difficulties”.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said Mr Kwarteng’s speech showed the Conservatives were “completely out of touch”.
She said: “What the Chancellor called a little financial disturbance is a huge economic body-blow to working people that will mean higher prices and soaring mortgages.
“That's the Tory economic premium. This is an economic crisis made in Downing Street, paid for by working people.
“They must reverse this Budget and abandon their discredited, dangerous trickle down approach.”
It came as Mr Rees-Mogg shrugged off protests against the Government, telling a conference fringe event that "if people want to call me Tory scum, I don't mind".
The Business Secretary made the remarks after the first two days of the annual gathering were hit by demonstrations outside the central Birmingham venue.
Union barons also called rail strikes to coincide with the first and last days of the conference in a bid to disrupt travel to the event.
Speaking in the main hall Mr Rees-Mogg congratulated delegates for making it to the conference “in spite of the best efforts” of RMT boss Mick Lynch.
“You make sure we have Conservative governments and you getting here was proof of that,” he told them.
“Some of you may think that I should be going around the trains, putting out little calling cards saying how much I look forward to seeing people back at work soon.
"Because, actually, we have a tireless quest for productivity in this country and we need to make sure that everybody is working efficiently, and we want them obviously to be working in their proper places of work.
"Also I wanted to thank you for giving me almost a warmer welcome as I got outside the hall. But I think that's rather marvellous.
“I happen to think that having a democracy where you can actually walk through the streets and people can exercise their right to peaceful protest shows the strength of our society.
"And if people really want to call me Tory scum, I don't mind."
That's all for today...
Britain can weather the current storm and go for growth. That was the message at the heart of Kwasi Kwarteng's upbeat address on the second day of a Conservative Party conference quite unlike any other.
But first thing on Tuesday morning, the Chancellor found himself engulfed by a political storm as he confirmed the Government had 'U'-turned on its previous plans to abolish the 45p top rate of income tax.
There is now some consternation Mr Kwarteng upset one wing of the Conservative Party with the plans in the first instance, and may now have infuriated some of his and Liz Truss's own backers.
Tomorrow's main hall conference agenda focuses on better public services, which Mr Kwarteng made clear can only be funded by "going for growth". After a politically difficult day, he will hope actions speak louder than the words of many in his party and the commentariat in the past 24 hours.
Join us again tomorrow for more Conservative Party conference coverage
JRM: We have averted 'genuine economic disaster'
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Business Secretary, is now addressing delegates - congratulating them on coming to the conference "in spite of the best efforts of Mr Mick Lynch".
"Some of you think I should be going round the trains putting out little calling cards saying how I look forward to seeing you back at work soon," he quips.
He talks up Britain's relentless focus on growth under the Truss administration, and says Britain had averted a "genuine economic disaster" with the energy support package.
Environment Secretary: The world is buying British - that isn't a disgrace
Ranil Jayawardena, the Environment Secretary, says we should be able to "buy British with confidence and with pride" by tightening up labelling.
This is so shoppers can be sure anything labelled as British is British.
"The Prime Minister and I were determined to open new markets and we succeeded. We are selling chicken to Mongolia. We are shipping Scottish salmon to Saudi Arabia. But this is just the beginning.
"Like the Prime Minister when she was the Environment Secretary, in a fortnight I will be in Paris at the world's largest food fair bigging up British products."
Badenoch: Growth is a means to a better life for all
Kemi Badenoch urges her party to "get behind the Prime Minister - we need unity, and we need to be able to have dissent, you know, in a grown up fashion.
"When other people have problems with policy, I think there's a way of communicating it and not necessarily rushing to the first TV studio to let everyone know how angry you are."
She concludes: "We do need to do something about growth. We need to be more courageous about explaining why what we're doing is right. It is morally right to go for growth, because if people don't have any growth, they won't become catalysts, they won't become howeowners. Growth is not an end in itself, it is a means to a better quality of life for everybody, and that's what we're fighting for."
'We need a level playing field'
Kemi Badenoch expresses her worry that "the whole world is becoming more protectionist", from the United States to China, urging a "level playing field".
"The primary purpose for trade in my view is a tool for prosperity... but it's also a tool for security."
On the 'woke' agenda, a word she says is not sufficient for what is going on, she says: "If you are telling the rest of the world your country is terrible and racist, what do you think happens when your trade secretary goes to a developing country to ask for things? It means they are viewed with suspicion."
Kemi Badenoch: Liz Truss has my full support
Kemi Badenoch says she "fully supports the Prime Minister 100 per cent" and adds: "I do think we need to make sure that the Conservative message around the economy is one that doesn't get lost in a lot of the media storms that we see."
The International Trade Secretary vows to shift the "Overton window" around trade beyond trade deals: "Trade deals are like the motorway, it's fantastic, get them built. But if the cars aren't going back and forth, we may well not have built them."
"We're going to be working not just on signing deals, but making sure that businesses are using them. What I learned in the US is people really love our country. They think this is a safe place to invest their money."
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