Explosive polls cast huge question mark over Liz Truss' future as Prime Minister

Liz Truss' long-term survival hopes in Prime Minister and Prime Minister have been hit hard by a series of explosive polls, giving Labor a lead of up to 33 points and showing support for the Tory cast after its 'kamikaze' mini budget of tax giveaways for the wealthy.

The Prime Minister emerged from five days of silence on Thursday to deliver a defiant defense of the £45billion package, which she said was 'the right plan' while admitting it offered "disproportionate" cash gains to the wealthiest in society.

But independent experts described the package unveiled by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng last Friday er as the biggest 'undirected error' in modern economic history, warning that it will usher in a new era of austerity, with the government having to find nearly £50billion a year in public spending cuts to achieve its own goals.

The new YouGov poll, taken on Wednesday and Thursday after the budget came under fire from the IMF and the Bank of England was forced to intervene to shore up pension funds, boost Keir Starmer's Labor by nine points since the weekend to 54% and the Conservatives by seven to 21%.

A separate Survation survey had Starmer's party 21 points ahead of 49% against 28 for the Conservatives. Deltapoll recorded a margin of 19 points, with Labor on 48% against 29 for the Conservatives. And Redfield and Wilton had a 17-point gap between Labor on 46 and Tories on 29%.

Any one would deliver a landslide victory for Labor, potentially surpassing Tony Blair's historic triumph in 1997.< /p>

The results set a scorching backdrop for the opening of the annual Tory conference in Birmingham on Sunday, at which the Prime Minister and Chancellor were already facing calls for ir withdrawal.

Meanwhile pressure is mounting on Mr Kwarteng to deliver a statement due November 23 outlining how he plans to balance the books in the medium term, after the watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility has revealed he will deliver his initial forecast of the impact of his package to the Chancellor as early as October 7.

Chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee, the former minister curator Mel Stride, called on Mr. Kwarteng to release the forecast "as soon as possible" and move its statement ahead of the Bank of England's crucial rate-setting meeting on November 3, when it is expected to raise interest rates by one percentage point.

Mr. Stride told the chancellor in a letter that her refusal to allow the OBR to publish its analysis alongside its September 23 budget had "fuelled lack of confidence in the markets", which saw the pound plunge and yields gilts have risen sharply in recent days. He also said Mr Kwarteng's comments on the decision "only add to the feeling of avoiding scrutiny".

Former Tory Chancellor Ken Clarke told The Independent that Mr Kwarteng is expected to announce his plan in the next "two or three weeks".

"It would restore confidence if he could do it faster, because we are in a very fragile situation,” said Lord Clarke. "We can't wait until the end of November."

The Tory peer, who served in the Thatcher and Major governments, added: "What we've seen is unprecedented - I don't remember no Chancellor causing such alarm in the markets and forcing the Bank of England to spend billions to save pensions.”

Former Minister George Freeman has called for a meeting of cabinet urgency to come up with a "plan B".< /p>

"Now is a serious crisis with high stakes, a time for cool heads and calm leadership," Mr. Freeman: “The economic package of loans and tax cuts announced last week clearly cannot elicit market or voter confidence. The cabinet must meet quickly to agree with the Prime Minister and the Chancellor on a plan B that can hold.

Experts at the Resolution Foundation think tank say if Ms Truss refuses to back down she will have to impose spending cuts 'about the same or greater' than George Osborne did so after the banking crash, with a £37-47 billion budget crunch per...