Liz Truss holds press conference to announce mini-budget U-turn after sacking Kwasi Kwarteng – live

The prime minister, Liz Truss, is now speaking at the press conference in Downing Street.

Truss has bowed to intense pressure from Conservative MPs and the markets by scrapping her signature corporation tax cut from the government’s mini-budget.

She says it is clear that parts of her government’s mini-budget “went further and faster than markets were expected”. She says:

So the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change. We need to act now to reassure the markets of our discal discipline.

I have therefore decided to keep the increase in corporation tax tat was planned by the previous government.

Truss opened her press conference by saying she has been “ambitious for growth” and that her convicted was rooted in her personal experiences.

She says she knows what it’s like “to grow up somewhere that isn’t feeling the benefits of growth”.

I saw what that meant. And I’m not prepared to accept that for our country. I want a country where people can get good jobs, new businesses can set up and families can afford an even better life.

She insists that she will “always act in the national interest”, adding:

We will get through this storm.

The prime minister, Liz Truss, is now speaking at the press conference in Downing Street.

Truss has bowed to intense pressure from Conservative MPs and the markets by scrapping her signature corporation tax cut from the government’s mini-budget.

She says it is clear that parts of her government’s mini-budget “went further and faster than markets were expected”. She says:

So the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change. We need to act now to reassure the markets of our discal discipline.

I have therefore decided to keep the increase in corporation tax tat was planned by the previous government.

The prime minister, Liz Truss, is expected to speak at a press conference from the Downing Street briefing room in the next few minutes.

The Labour MP, Richard Burgon, says sacking Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor is not enough and called for a general election.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has also called for a general election in response to the news that Kwarteng has been sacked as chancellor.

Earlier we pointed out that the bottom of Liz Truss’s letter to Kwasi Kwarteng appeared to have been addressed by Kwarteng.

It appears this is standard practice in the civil service and has been the case for decades.

One of the largest teaching unions is to carry out its threat to hold a strike ballot, after the government in England ignored its demand for a 12% pay rise this year.

The NASUWT union announced that a ballot for industrial action will be sent to members, with voting opening on 27 October and closing on 9 January. The ballot will be sent to members in Wales and Scotland as well as England.

Teachers in England have been offered only a 5% pay increase, with schools minister Jonathan Gullis saying this month that the government “won’t budge”.

Patrick Roach, the union’s general secretary, said:

The NASUWT has done everything possible to seek a resolution to this dispute and to avoid escalation of industrial action in schools and colleges.

The 5% pay award for teachers and headteachers is unacceptable at a time when inflation is running at more than 10% and it will result in even more financial misery for hard working teachers.

Ministers will be entirely responsible for industrial action unless they act immediately to deliver a better pay deal for teachers.

The National Education Union, the other major teaching union, has also announced that a preliminary ballot of members found 86% would support a vote on strike action for an above-inflation pay rise. The preliminary vote saw a 62% turn-out among members.

Downing Street has confirmed reports that Chris Philp is out as chief secretary to the Treasury, and has been replaced by Ed Argar.

Chris Philp has been appointed Paymaster General, Downing Street said.

Ryan Bourne, the former head of public affairs at the rightwing Institute for Economic Affairs, has called on Liz Truss to resign as prime minister.

Bourne, who was a supporter of Truss, says there is “no point being in position but not in power”.

No 10 has confirmed that Jeremy Hunt has been appointed Britain’s new Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The former foreign secretary and Tory leadership contender will be the fourth chancellor this year.

Here’s the letter from Liz Truss to her former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in full:

The bottom of the letter suggests that the letter to Kwarteng was written by Kwarteng himself:

Liz Truss has responded to Kwasi Kwarteng’s letter confirming that he was sacked by the prime minister.

Truss said she “deeply respects” the decision he has taken to “put the national interest first” and stand down.

Truss said:

As a long-standing friend and colleague, I am deeply sorry to lose you from the Government.

We share the same vision for our country and the same firm conviction to go for growth.

You have been Chancellor in extraordinarily challenging times in the face of severe global headwinds.

The Energy Price Guarantee and the Energy Bill Relief scheme, which made up the largest part of the mini budget, will stand as one of the most significant fiscal interventions in modern times.

Thanks to your intervention, families will be able to heat their homes this winter and thousands of jobs and livelihoods will be saved.

You have cut taxes for working people by legislating this week to scrap the increase in National Insurance Contributions.

You have set in train an ambitious set of supply side reforms that this Government will proudly take forward. These include new investment zones to unleash the potential of parts of our country that have been held back for too long and the removal of EU regulations to help British businesses succeed in the global economy.

I deeply respect the decision you have taken today. You have put the national interest first.

I know that you will continue to support the mission that we share to deliver a low tax, high wage, high growth economy that can transform the prosperity of our country for generations to come.

Thank you for your service to this country and your huge friendship and support. I have no doubt you will continue to make a major contribution to public life in the years ahead.