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Video: Liz Truss resigns as UK prime minister Liz Truss was on Thursday forced to quit as UK prime minister, drawing to a dramatic close 44 days in office that saw her preside over financial turmoil and catastrophic damage to the ruling Conservative party. Truss was told to quit by senior party figures, leaving bitterly

Britain’s inflation rate rose to a 40-year high of 10.1 per cent in September, as soaring food costs more than offset price declines at petrol pumps. The jump in inflation as measured by the consumer price index exceeded economists’ expectations, rising from 9.9 per cent in August. It was driven by the highest food price

The Bank of England is set to delay the sale of billions of pounds of government bonds in a bid to foster greater stability in gilt markets following the UK’s failed “mini” Budget. The BoE had already delayed the start of its sale of £838bn of gilts bought under its quantitative easing programme from October

Jeremy Hunt, the new UK chancellor, on Monday scrapped the bulk of his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax cuts in a desperate effort to calm markets, while slashing the government’s energy support package. In an emergency move to rebuild the government’s fiscal credibility, Hunt rewrote the government’s tax and spending plans, putting a wrecking ball through

The UK’s new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has insisted that Prime Minister Liz Truss is still running the government after reports suggested he was preparing to scrap further parts of her “mini” Budget. Following Truss’s decision to sack her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, senior Conservative MPs believe it is a matter of time before she

Jeremy Hunt, the new UK chancellor, has admitted taxes will have to rise and spending will have to be cut after prime minister Liz Truss failed to reassure markets with a U-turn on cutting corporation tax. In his first interviews since replacing Kwasi Kwarteng, who was sacked by the prime minister on Friday, Hunt buried

Liz Truss, UK prime minister, has appointed Jeremy Hunt to replace Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor as she prepares to scrap tax cuts set out in the government’s “mini” Budget less than a month ago. The government announced the appointment of Hunt, the former health and foreign secretary, who is from the left of the Conservative

Sterling and UK government bonds jumped on Thursday as Liz Truss’s government came under mounting pressure from Tory MPs and the IMF to reverse or alter the unfunded tax cut plans that have shaken markets. The gains came a day after the Bank of England soothed market jitters with £4.4bn of bond purchases as part

A sell-off in UK government bonds accelerated on Wednesday, sending long-term borrowing costs higher after the Bank of England reiterated its plans to halt its emergency gilt-buying scheme as scheduled on Friday. The central bank said on Wednesday morning that it “has made clear from the outset, its temporary and targeted purchases of gilts will

The Bank of England has widened its emergency bond-buying programme to include inflation-linked gilts in its latest attempt to stem “fire sales” by pension funds that have created a “material risk to UK financial stability”. The move, which marks the first time the BoE has purchased index-linked debt, helped steady gilt markets on a day

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is to rush forward his new debt-cutting plan — and accompanying official forecasts — to October 31, as part of a broad effort to reassure markets the UK has a grip on public finances. The move comes as the Bank of England also seeks to steady UK financial markets, by unveiling measures

US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen said the move by Opec+ to cut oil production was “unhelpful and unwise” for the global economy, particularly emerging markets already struggling with high energy prices. The Biden administration has been loudly critical of the decision by the oil cartel backed by Saudi Arabia and Russia this week, which took

An explosion tore through Russia’s bridge across the Kerch Strait to Crimea early on Saturday, severely damaging it in a major blow to Vladimir Putin more than seven months into his invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s anti-terrorist committee said a truck exploded on the bridge’s roadside in the early hours of Saturday morning and caused seven

UK regulators on Friday began a new round of licences to enable companies to explore for oil and gas in the North Sea, as climate campaigners signalled they would aim to mount a legal challenge. The North Sea Transition Authority is expected to award more than 100 permits to companies by the end of June,

The Bank of England has defended last week’s intervention in the UK government debt market, saying it stepped in to prevent a £50bn fire sale of gilts that would have taken Britain to the brink of a financial crisis. The central bank said on Thursday that had it not launched its emergency bond-buying scheme in

Prime minister Liz Truss has told the Tory party faithful that she will lead Britain through “stormy days” during the economic “tempest” caused by the Covid-19 crisis and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Truss, who has been in power for just a month, sought to rally Conservative MPs behind her faltering leadership at a party conference

Liz Truss is braced for a fresh rebellion over her economic plans with senior Conservative MPs threatening to vote against the UK prime minister if she decides to cut benefits in real terms next spring. Truss is looking at raising benefits in line with average earnings growth rather than inflation, a controversial move that has

Liz Truss has executed a major U-turn by scrapping plans to axe the 45p top rate of tax, after facing a growing revolt from Tory MPs led by former cabinet ministers Michael Gove and Grant Shapps. After insisting on Sunday that the controversial plan would go ahead, Truss concluded after talks with her senior team

Liz Truss, prime minister, has admitted that mistakes were made in the controversial “mini” Budget that sparked market turmoil last week, as she braced herself for a fraught Conservative conference in Birmingham. Truss said she would not retreat on her plan to deliver £45bn of unfunded tax cuts, insisting it would help deliver growth, but

The UK watchdogs responsible for the £1.5tn corner of the pensions sector that came close to imploding this week are holding daily talks with asset managers to stave off a fresh crisis when the Bank of England’s emergency bond buying ends. The £65bn plan, which ends on October 14, was launched on Wednesday to safeguard