Tory MPs pledge to block Truss cuts to welfare and services, after the PM's authority was damaged by the U-turn

Centrist Tory MPs vowed to block plans for Liz Truss to cut spending on public services and social care, after a humiliating U-turn on taxes deeply damaged the Prime Minister's authority.

A former minister says to The Independentthat opponents of the Prime Minister's hardline economic policies had been 'invigorated' by the sight of Ms Truss 'flashing' on a plan to abolish the top tax rate of 45p for top earners.

And backbench MPs have made it clear they are ready to do battle over welfare, with two former Labor Secretaries and pensioners saying it would be wrong to backtrack on Boris Johnson's pledge of an inflation-matching increase and Michael Gove saying he would need "a lot of persuading" to back the budget cuts. p>

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has been accused of 'insulting millions' after coming to light over his rollback of a mini-budget measure that would have handed over £2billion of borrowed money to the UK 600,000 highest paid.

In a speech to the Conservative Conference in Birmingham, he received only lukewarm applause from campaigners after sweeping away a turbulent week in the markets and sent the Tories' ratings plummeting as 'a little turbulence'.

And some Tories have scorned the Prime Minister and Chancellor's claims to fix high-tax, low-growth policies admins previous Tory istrations.

'Liz was a minister in the governments she now criticizes,' a former minister told The Independent. "I sat in cabinet with her when we agreed to the tax increases and she never spoke out against them."

A new survey puts the Tories 25 points behind the Labor, in findings that Savanta pollsters say could give Sir Keir Starmer a three-digit majority and nearly wipe out the Tories, who could be sidelined from power for a generation.

Mr. Kwarteng has sparked fresh concern by warning that utilities will have to stick to the budgets agreed during last year's Comprehensive Spending Review, despite soaring inflation which has since eaten away at their value .

The Chancellor is said to have issued a statement on his spending plans - along with the Office for Budget Responsibility's publication of the mini-budget ruling - from November 23 to this month in the aim of calming the markets.

The Independent Institute for Fiscal Studies warned that it would equate to a cut of £18 billion in real terms, including £7.5 billion for health and social services and £3.4 billion for education. And the Resolution Foundation said the chancellor would have to make 'significant' spending cuts if he is to meet his target of reducing debt as a proportion of GDP over the medium term, after £43billion in tax giveaways in the mini-budget.

Meanwhile, Ms Truss has confirmed that Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith is reviewing a promise to increase working-age benefits next April in line with the figure of month's inflation of around 10%. Reports suggest the rise may instead be linked to wages at 6%.

But newly emboldened Tory backbenchers have made it clear they now expect the Prime Minister listens to their opposition, after the 45-pixel row proved it couldn't get its plans through parliament without broad support among MPs - including supporters of its leadership rival Rishi Sunak. marginal constituencies - to make a big difference," said one MP. "Truss will not be able to continue regardless, as she has tried to do so far."

Former Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb said Kwarteng was over-. ..