The first signs of friction between Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng over how to deal with the tanking pound have emerged, after the pair met in No 10 to thrash out how to respond on Monday.
Downing Street rebuffed talk of a split between No 10 and No 11 over how to deal with the market reaction to the mini-budget, and denied that there was a row.
However, Whitehall sources said there was talk within the civil service of an argument between the prime minister and chancellor at the meeting on Monday morning.
Sky News said Truss had been resisting Kwarteng’s suggestion that a Treasury statement was needed to calm the markets. The Treasury released a statement late on Monday afternoon setting out plans to commission a forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility and hold another fiscal event in mid-November.
A No 10 source insisted it was “nonsense” that the pair had been at loggerheads during the meeting, saying Truss meets Kwarteng every day and there was no argument.
But another government source contradicted that, acknowledging that there was friction at the encounter.
Credit: theguardian.com
