Jeremy Hunt

New chancellor tells Commons there will be tax rises and spending cuts, as PM dodges urgent question.

The yield on 30-year gilts fell by 0.4 percentage points to 4.37%, reversing some of the increase since Kwasi Kwarteng announced Mordaunt said the prime minister was not in hiding. “That means decisions of eye-watering difficulty,” he said. That is my message to my colleagues.” One member of the 1922 executive said the group could take action this week, either by changing the rules or sending Brady to tell Truss it was over. Truss declined to appear at the dispatch box in parliament on Monday despite calls from Labour, leading one cabinet minister to clarify she was not “hiding under a desk”. “I am not against the principle of taxing profits that are genuine windfalls,” he told the Commons. In her BBC interview, Truss said she intended to stay on as prime minister. And now we need to deliver for people what we’ve said we’ll deliver. “I’m sticking around because I was elected to deliver for this country. [Conservatives](https://www.theguardian.com/politics/conservatives) into the next general election … Estimates of what it would take to achieve this range between £60bn and £72bn.

'We went too far, too fast,' says PM in TV interview after new chancellor rips up her economic policy in bid to calm markets.

Mr Hunt announced he was scrapping "almost all" of the tax cuts announced by the government last month, in a bid to stabilise the financial markets. A minister ...

Allies of Ms Truss have acknowledged it was a crucial 24 to 48 hours for her premiership. You can also get in touch in the following ways: She also denied there had been a "coup" to remove her. Instead, Ms Truss sent Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt in her place for the clash. He told Sky News: "I think her position is untenable. Ms Truss had previously ruled out a further windfall tax on energy companies. A penny cut in income tax due in April will now not happen. Former chief whip Andrew Mitchell said the prime minister had just a fortnight to save her premiership and "if she cannot do the job, she will be replaced". In a series of tense exchanges, Ms Mourdant told MPs the "prime minister is not under a desk" hiding to avoid difficult decisions. A minister had to deny Ms Truss was hiding "under a desk" after the prime minister did not attend a clash with Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons. Asked if he would introduce a "proper" windfall tax on energy companies, Mr Hunt said he was "not against the principle" of taxing profits that are "genuine windfalls", adding that "nothing is off the table". Mr Hunt announced he was scrapping "almost all" of the tax cuts announced by the government last month, in a bid to stabilise the financial markets.

New U.K. Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt is announcing parts of his medium-term fiscal plan, bringing forward the policy statement in an effort to calm ...

However, the full medium-term fiscal plan is still set to be published on Oct. 31, accompanied by a forecast from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility — something that was lacking in the original mini-budget announced on Sept. [The stream is slated to start at 6 a.m.

Emergency surgery on Trussonomics was vital, but years of grind now lie ahead, says Guardian columnist Gaby Hinsliff.

Years of grind lie ahead as Britain is called out not just for the madness of making Truss prime minister but before that the madness of Brexit, and perhaps also a more longstanding sense of decline. A painful readjustment looms not just of the public finances, but of Britain’s idea of itself. The way he kept repeating the word “stability”, meanwhile, suggests that whatever Tory MPs or indeed a deeply humiliated Truss herself may want, Hunt and the circle of Sunak-backers around him think she has to stay on for now, if only to avoid the immediate chaos of a leadership contest or general election that may well fail to deliver a mandate for such bitter economic medicine. Watching this statement, that seemed for a moment believable, for this was not the fiscal package of someone out to court popularity. The new chancellor’s friends insist he isn’t after Truss’s job, even though he ran for it in the summer and is pretty much now doing it in all but name. Not just the obviously gangrenous parts of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s budget, like her corporation rate tax cut or the abolition of the 45p tax rate, but pretty much everything still within reach of his scalpel.

New chancellor made no mention of policy in economic update but Treasury sources confirm he will go ahead with controversial move.

A Treasury source rejected the suggestion and said further details would be released at the end of the month. The Bank of England also warned at the time that the cap would lead to a rise in fixed-salary costs and squeeze bank finances. A source familiar with the plans confirmed that City regulators were still preparing to consult on the rule changes this autumn. However, Hunt has not made any commitment to follow suit, despite fears that banks would now have to prepare for taxes worth 33%, rather than 28% as previously promised. “What a contrast, that cuts to benefits are still on the table, but the one thing the chancellor couldn’t bring himself to reverse today was lifting the cap on bankers’ bonuses. The hope was that, with less of an individual’s pay riding on performance, there would be a lower incentive for risky behaviour.

A new economic plan for the U.K. aims to calm markets and give pension funds some breathing room.

Hunt said the government will make “decisions of eye-watering difficulty” to restore confidence. The group “will meet regularly to discuss U.K. While it eases pressure on the Bank of England to hike rates, “the U.K. “The immediate impact is to reduce the pressure to source further liquidity to meet collateral obligations,” Ms. looking to commit money here, this see-sawing can’t help our case,” he said in an email. Hunt’s office said in a statement.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt ripped up most of what was left of Prime Minister Liz Truss's controversial economic program, scrapping tax cuts and ...

Hunt was named chancellor — the most senior position in government, beneath the prime minister — after Truss sacked her hitherto close ally Kwasi Kwarteng last ...

When it comes to economic policy, and much else, he is in a position to dictate terms for as long as she lasts.” chancellor, but “this government has now gone into such a close-to-doom position that the gravity of the Treasury orthodoxy is all it can think about.” Once you put someone in of such a different political opinion, you can't even claim this is about recognizing the markets and we are back on growth. Indeed, allies of Hunt have— perhaps optimistically— taken to referring to Hunt as 'Jeremy Draghi,' given the rescue job lying before him. He stressed the need for “confidence and stability" in the U.K. The markets also responded positively both to Hunt’s appointment and his first acts as chancellor. government would “make whatever tough decisions are necessary” to calm the markets. "Mrs Hunt rules it out. Jonathan Portes, professor of economics at King's College London, compared the U.K. Giles Wilkes, a partner at Flint Global and former No. Three Hunt children rule it out." In a hastily-arranged TV statement Monday, Hunt struck a markedly different tone from the libertarian defiance of Truss and Kwarteng.

Plus, Rishi Sunak would crush Liz Truss in leadership race rerun, according to new poll.

Roster of clear environmental policies could help new chancellor plug multibillion-pound hole in finances.

[Home insulation](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/15/uk-must-spend-on-home-insulation-and-heat-pumps-ministers-told) will be key. Even now, in autumn, it is [not too late to make a start](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/03/not-too-late-to-insulate-homes-this-winter-says-lord-deben), according to the former Conservative environment minister and current chair of the Climate Change Committee, Lord Deben. Taxing them adequately would help to top up Treasury coffers, reduce expensive oil imports and send a clear signal that the richest road users are not exempt from austerity. These companies can be encouraged to give up or reinvest some of the gains through reforms to the electricity market, which should be hastened. Private sector investment will also be key to boosting economic growth as the UK heads for recession. Tessa Khan, the director of Uplift, which campaigns against the expansion of North Sea oil and gas, said: “We need wholesale reform of the entire tax regime for the North Sea, which has for years meant some fossil fuel giants have paid no tax, or negative tax, in the UK, despite making vast profits.” Britain has the [draughtiest homes in western Europe](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/01/fuel-poor-homes-face-taking-250-energy-hit-due-to-poor-insulation) and insulation rates dropped by 90% under David Cameron’s leadership. Every unit of energy saved by households means the government would need to spend less paying their bills. As a former health secretary, Hunt will also know that cold damp homes make people ill, so helping them stay warmer will reduce pressure on the NHS. Doug Parr, the UK policy director at Greenpeace, said: “If this chancellor can grasp that the same fixes can ease both the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis, he’ll be laughing.” As he faces, by some estimates, a gaping hole of least £60bn in the country’s finances, a roster of clear green measures, big and small, could help him plug the gap. This will lower people’s bills, strengthen our energy security and avoid the worst consequences of climate change.”

If Liz Truss and Jeremy Hunt can work effectively together, the prime minister will lead the Conservative Party into the next election, a former minister says.

We need to give her time," she says, "I think if any of us were judged by the first 30 days in our job, we wouldn't go down in history." Downing St sources say the "shape" of the defence budget is yet to be agreed. Will in York is a Conservative party member but feels the government needs to call a general election so Labour can take over." A defence source said: "The prime minister made clear in her leadership campaign and as recently as 29 September... I want us to lose an election badly, so we can re-group and look at what we stand for." Fellow York resident Sarah is a long-standing Conservative voter who feels it would be "for the good of the country" if they were no longer in government." Malcolm Dunn said: "The needs of the country come before the needs of our party. We look forward to the medium-term fiscal plan," an IMF spokesperson said. They couldn't exempt the health service from cuts, though they want to protect front line services. "You think you can turn up and claim some sort of moral high ground? But he feels the government has gone one step further." "We're already suffering badly because customers are spending less and coming in less frequently."

Brief letters: New chancellor | Memory tests | Political bilge | Odd school sayings.

[exportation of English marmalade](https://twitter.com/jeremy_hunt/status/1331691128660369411?lang=en-GB). It is more likely that he opened the bilge – ballast is intended to stop the ship listing and to set in on an even keel. dumped the ballast of her tax changes” (

Liz Truss's UK government has raced from massive tax cuts and stimulus to what is effectively austerity 2.0 in a matter of days.