By Ben Kerrigan-
Kwasi Kwarteng has been sacked as chancellor amid intense speculation Prime Minister Liz Truss is about to junk key parts of their economic plan.
Mr Kwarteng was asked to step down after meeting Ms Truss for crunch talks in Downing Street after cutting short a US trip.
It follows weeks of criticism that Kwarteng’s mini budget was problematic and doomed to plunge the Uk economy into a serious crisis. In such a short time, the pound drop to highest low seen in decades, sparking fear and concern among businessmen.
Kwarteng was largely seen as the political soulmate of Ms Truss, and roundly praised for his exceptionally high intellect, having achieved a double first at oxford university.
He was The star attraction of the prime minister’s new cabinet- a situation that would rapidly change and see his short lived tenure as chancellor face sustained criticism over his mini budget.
His dismissal makes him the shortest lived chancellor after just 38 days in the job.
Ms Truss is expected to announce a U-turn on business tax cuts at a news conference in Downing Street at 14:30.
Ms Truss’s pledge to cut taxes was at the heart of the economic agenda that won her the Tory leadership at the start of September.
“As I said many times in the past weeks, following the status quo was simply not an option,” Mr Kwarteng wrote in his letter.
“For too long this country has been dogged by low growth rates and high taxation – that must change if this country is to succeed.
Ms Truss has faced calls to drop parts or all of her economic plan to calm market turbulence and restore confidence in her party.
Political and economic matters were so bad that some Tory MPs even began to explore options to remove Ms Truss as prime minister, laying bare divisions within the party, which has been in power for 12 years.
Ms Truss has already done a U turn on her plan to scrap to top rate of income tax.
Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said a “humiliating u-turn is necessary” after the government “plunged our economy into chaos and crisis with Truss’ discredited trickle down approach”.