from Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng will meet with the head of the Office of Budget Responsibility on Friday – following days of market turmoil following Friday’s mini-budget.
The Government has come under fire for not seeking a forecast of the OBR before announcing its major new economic plan, causing the market to falter and the pound to plummet.
Chancellor Quasi Quarteng and prime minister Liz Truss are now meeting with Richard Hughes, the head of the independent spending watchdog who has come forward amid the political and economic fallout from Friday’s mini-budget.
treasury and Downing Street sources hit back at suggestions it was an emergency meeting, but it comes after days of chaos in the financial markets and fears of skyrocketing mortgage bills fueled by the Chancellor’s mini-budget last week.
News of the meeting was welcomed, Treasury Select Committee chairman Mel Stride, one of the growing caucus of conservatives concerned about the government’s plans.
He insisted the meeting would be a “reset moment”, following previous calls from fellow Tory MPs for a government “plan B”.
Sir Charles Walker issued the biggest warning yet about the electoral danger his party was in, after a YouGov poll for The Times showed that Labor had a massive 33-point lead over the Conservatives.
Sir Charles admitted his party would be “wiped out” if elections were held tomorrow, but ruled out the possibility of a leadership challenge against Ms Truss.
“If there are general elections tomorrow there won’t be, but if there were we’d be wiped out…we’d cease to exist as a functioning political party,” he said.
Both the Prime Minister and Chancellor have said they are still behind the plan, arguing that their £45bn package of tax cuts is the “right plan” for the economy.
And while she declined to comment directly on the economy created by the mini-budget, Ms Truss told a round of BBC local radio interviews that her government needed to take “urgent action” to kick-start the economy and help consumers protect against rising energy costs.
During a visit to an engine factory in Darlington, Mr Kwarteng said the package he announced in the House of Commons on Friday was “absolutely essential” if the economy was to generate the revenue needed to fund public services.