Allies of Liz Truss, including Braintree MP James Cleverly, have rallied round the Prime Minister amid growing pressure to abandon her economic plan.

After coming under fire from backbenchers, the Tory leader’s supporters insisted her tax-cutting agenda must be allowed to progress.

With Ms Truss’s leadership already being questioned, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said a change of leadership would be a “disastrously bad idea”.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have got to recognise that we do need to bring certainty to the markets.

“We are absolutely going to stay focused on growing the economy.”

It comes as Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was already forced to abandon plans to scrap the 45p income tax rate for top earners.

The Chancellor is now under pressure to reinstate a planned increase in corporation tax from April.

 

But Mr Cleverly told Sky News: “We have got to make sure we can compete internationally with the other places businesses can choose to locate. We have got to make sure we are tax-competitive.”

Mr Cleverly added the planned statement by the Chancellor on October 31 will set out a more “holistic” view of the Government’s plans, but the “foundations” of the mini-budget were “really key for the growth agenda the Prime Minister has put forward”.