Jeremy Hunt rushes off from Chequers after ‘crisis talks’ with Liz Truss

Liz Truss is said to still be in deep trouble despite the appointment of a new chancellor (Picture: PA/AP)

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was seen leaving ‘crisis talks’ with the Prime Minister just hours after insisting she is still ‘in charge’ of the government.

Hunt, 55, was spotted making a swift exit from the Chequers estate in Buckinghamshire, after meeting with Prime Minister Liz Truss.

It comes amid claims that Tories are still plotting to replace the Prime Minister after a disastrous six-weeks in Number 10.

Mr Hunt warned taxes will most certainly rise during an interview with the BBC, and said there will be ‘very difficult decisions’ ahead for the government.

His appointment is in stark contrast to Ms Truss’ economic vision which was about cutting taxes to generate growth.

Appearing on BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the new chancellor insisted ‘the prime minister’s in charge’.

He added: ‘We’re going to have to take some very difficult decisions both on spending and on tax.

‘Spending is not going to increase by as much as people hoped… taxes are not going to go down as quickly as people thought and some taxes are going to go up.

‘I think having run two leadership campaigns, and by the way I failed in both of them, the desire to be leader has been clinically excised from me.

‘I want to be a good chancellor. It’s going to be very, very difficult. But that’s what I’m focusing on.’

He was seen making a dash for it from Chequers (Picture: PA)

Jeremy Hunt insisted this morning that Liz Truss is still in charge of the country (Picture: Getty Images)

Senior Tories are rumoured to be plotting against the PM (Picture: Getty Images)

Asked if it was a return to the austerity brought in by the 2010 coalition, he said: ‘I don’t think we are going to have anything like that this time.’  

In a dramatic U turn on Friday following the sacking of the previous chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng – the new PM was forced to back down after critics hit out about how the dramatic cuts to tax would be funded.

Mr Hunt is expected to follow Friday’s climbdown which will mean a rise in corporation tax by axing the mini-budget’s plan to cut the basic rate of income tax by 1p to 19p.

This means none of the three main strands of the ‘Trussonomics’ package from just three weeks ago remain. 

Corporation tax is now set to rise from 19p to 25p next year and the decision to axe the 45p income tax rate for the highest earners was embarrassingly reversed during the Conservative Party Conference. 

Rishi Sunak could potentially become a familiar political face again soon (Picture: Getty Images)

There are now claims top Tories are planning to oust Ms Truss as prime minister which means political turmoil at the centre of Westminster is expected to continue into next week.

Reports today suggest Ben Wallace, the respected defence secretary, is being lined up as a possible PM, with Rushi Sunak as chancellor after Tory MPs described Ms Truss as being in office but not in power.

Conservative MP Robert Halfon stopped short of calling for the PM to go this morning on Sky’s Sophy Ridge Show.

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He said: ‘I worry that over the past few weeks, the government has looked like libertarian jihadists and treated the whole country as kind of laboratory mice on which to carry out ultra, ultra free market experiments. 

‘And this is not where the country is. There’s been one horror story after another.’

Asked if Ms Truss should lead his party into the next election, he said: ‘At this time, I’m not calling for the prime minister to go. I worry about further political instability, but even more economic instability. But things have to improve.

‘Because if things don’t change, I just think that perhaps things may not be able to carry on in the way that they have been.’

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It is expected to be another difficult week ahead for the PM.