New finance minister Jeremy Hunt promised to win back Britain's economic credibility by accounting for every penny of the government's tax and spending plans, while insisting that his boss Prime Minister Liz Truss remained in overall charge.
Truss appointed Hunt on Friday in an attempt to rescue her leadership as confidence in her ability to run the country drained away within both her own Conservative Party and international financial markets.
"There is one thing we can do and that's what I'm going to do, which is to show the markets, the world, indeed people watching at home, that we can properly account for every penny of our tax and spending plans." "I'm going to be asking every government department to find further efficiency savings," he said, adding that while he wanted to keep other tax cuts the government has promised, he ruled nothing out in his drive to balance the books.The Sunday Times said that initial forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility showed a 72 billion pound shortfall in the current plans. The paper also said Hunt would delay a planned cut to the basic rate of income tax.
Reports citing anonymous sources filled Sunday's newspapers, with defence minister Ben Wallace touted as the preferred replacement of senior lawmakers by the Sunday Mirror, and Rishi Sunak - who Truss defeated last month in a leadership contest - named as another possible successor by the Sun on Sunday.