Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng will likely have to U-turn on more parts of their mini-Budget, a senior Tory has said.
Mel Stride, the chair of the influential Commons Treasury committee, made the prediction on Wednesday as the government came under sustained pressure in the face of market turmoil.
Speaking in the Commons, Stride said: “Given the huge challenges, there are many – myself included – who believe it is quite possible that he will simply have to come forward with a further rowing back on the tax announcements that he made on September 23.”
But Chris Philp, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said the government was committed to its tax cuts.
“There are not any plans to reverse any of the tax measures announced in the growth plan,” he said.
Tory MP Kevin Hollinrake told BBC Radio 4′s World at One that Kwarteng and Truss should admit they have got things “wrong” and bring in the tax cuts need “over time”.
But Philp also told MPs as well as not being scrapped, the measures would not be delayed. “We don’t plan to defer the tax measures,” he said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Torsten Bell, of the Resolution Foundation think-tank, also told MPs Kwarteng would inevitably have to abandon some of the package.
“I don’t think there is a credible, plausible package that’s going to work now on the 31st that doesn’t involve U-turning,” he said. “Markets are going to need to see the government saying ‘I’ve changed course’.”
But asked if they remained committed to every aspect of the mini-budget, the prime minister’s spokesperson said: “Yes.”
It came as Truss said she was “absolutely” sticking by her pledge not to cut public spending.
On October 31 Kwasi Kwarteng will announce his so-called medium-term fiscal plan. It will detail how he plans to keep his pledge to reduce debt.
The highly-respected Institute for Fiscal Studies said the chancellor will need to find £60bn in savings to balance the books if he sticks to the tax cuts.