George Osborne says another mini-Budget U-turn is inevitable

George Osborne, the former chancellor, has urged Kwasi Kwarteng to make another “inevitable” U-turn on his mini-Budget rather than waiting until the end of the month to change course.

Downing Street officials reportedly held discussions about further changes to the growth plan on Thursday in the hope of calming financial markets after a turbulent few weeks.

Number 10 insisted its position had “not changed” and promised there would be no more about-turns beyond last week’s decision to scrap the abolition of the 45p tax rate.

However, some Tory MPs have privately expressed their frustration with the timing of the tax-cutting measures during a cost of living crisis, while both Sky News and Bloomberg reported that officials had held initial talks.

Mr Osborne wrote on Twitter: “Given the pain being caused to the real economy by the financial turbulence, it’s not clear why it is in anyone’s interests to wait 18 more days before the inevitable U-turn on the mini-Budget.”

He had already been critical of Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s economic record, and on Sunday warned of a potential “Tory wipeout” at the next general election unless the Government changed course.

Ed Balls, the former Labour MP and shadow chancellor, quoted the tweet with the words: “I agree with George.”

Meanwhile, Mr Kwarteng, currently in Washington for meetings with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), told reporters his “total focus” remained on delivering his mini-Budget and achieving economic growth. “That’s the central prize, that’s the main focus of my job,” he said.

Refusing to be drawn on speculation of U-turns, Mr Kwarteng added: “Our position hasn’t changed. I will come up with the medium-term fiscal plan on Oct 31, as I said earlier in the week, and there’ll be more detail then. What I am going to acknowledge is the fact that it is a very dicey situation globally.”

Mr Kwarteng said there had been “turbulence” in the British economy but said “everybody” had been affected by the energy price spike, potential rising interest rates and Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

No final decision on the mini-Budget would be taken until he returned to Britain after the summit, Bloomberg reported on Thursday afternoon.

Separately, The Sun reported that Ms Truss could raise corporation tax next year, although Downing Street sources told The Telegraph they rejected the report.

It would represent her most significant U-turn to date after making a promise to scrap April’s planned rise – which would have seen an increase from 19 per cent to 25 per cent – a key part of her leadership campaign.

Rishi Sunak, her Tory leadership rival, argued the existing corporation tax rate had done little to boost British competitiveness as he defended the planned rise.