Kwasi Kwarteng jokes "what a day!" and swears "no more distractions" after the budget reversal

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng tried to shed light on his turnaround with a speech promising to halt Britain's 'slow and controlled decline' - after 12 years of conservative diet

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Kwasi Kwarteng admits mini-budget has caused 'a bit of turbulence'

A stressed Kwasi Kwarteng today joked "what a day!" as he pledged to 'continue' with his controversial budget plans - despite a U-turn on tax cuts for the rich.

Visibly sweaty as he spoke at the Tory conference in Birmingham, the Chancellor went over the rest of his pledges which will be funded by £70bn of borrowing next year.

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Tory members laughed as they said - after market turmoil, rising mortgage rates and a £65bn bailout from the Bank of England - "I can be frank. I know the plan presented only 10 days ago caused some turbulence.

"I understand. I understand. We are listening and have listened, and now I want to focus on delivering the key elements of our growth program."

Lib Dem Treasury spokeswoman Sarah Olney MP said: 'Laughing at the turbulence caused by this botched budget is an insult to the millions of people already facing spiraling mortgage costs.

Kwasi Kwarteng giving his Conservative conference speech (

Picture:

REUTERS)

Downing Street said Prime Minister Liz Truss - who was in the audience for the speech - continues to have confidence in Mr Kwarteng, despite the humiliating decision to scrap the tax cut.

Mr. Kwarteng told activists, "What a day. It's been tough, but we have to focus on the work at hand.

"We need to move on, no more distractions, we have a plan and we need to move on and implement it."

The Chancellor also pledged to halt Britain's 'slow and managed decline' - after 12 years of Tory rule.

“The path ahead of us was one of slow, controlled decline,” he said. "But I refuse to accept that it is somehow Britain's fate to fall back into mid-league status."

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have backed off from their flagship policy of scrapping the 45p top rate of income tax, throwing the party conference into chaos.

In a sign of panic, the Prime Minister canceled a visit planned for this morning and went into hiding, as the Chancellor was forced to rewrite large chunks of his conference speech.