Liz Truss to hold press conference as Kwasi Kwarteng sacked for mini-budget disaster

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Liz Truss is to hold a press conference today after she sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor over the mini-budget disaster that tanked the pound.Kwarteng went straight to Downing Street to learn his fate today after flying back to London from a trip to Washington DC.

It follows days of turmoil in the markets amid concerns about the impact of his £43 billion tax giveaway on the public finances.Before he left the US, Kwarteng answered “absolutely 100%” when asked if he will be in office in a month, adding: “I’m not going anywhere.”But the Tory MP was promptly sacked after arriving at Downing Street at lunchtime.It means Kwarteng is the second shortest-serving UK chancellor on record.The shortest serving chancellor, Iain Macleod, died of a heart attack 30 days after taking the job in 1970.The markets, meanwhile, were calmer in early trading after reports that a major climbdown is being prepared helped settle nerves among investors.Kwarteng initially insisted he stood by his economic growth plan and would be setting out how he intends to get public finances back on track in a statement on October 31 as planned.But with few MPs believing he can afford to wait that long, he later said “let’s see” when asked if he could ditch his promise on corporation tax.The commitment to scrap the planned increase in the levy on corporate profits from 19% to 25% is widely seen as likely to be the first element to go if the expected U-turn goes ahead.Senior Conservative MP Mel Stride, who chairs the Commons Treasury Committee, said it is essential for the Government to act decisively if it is to restore confidence.“The danger here is that they decide they are going to nibble at the edges of this and don’t think that will cut it,” he told the