Chancellor expected to back down on 45p tax rate

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is expected to make a statement in the next hour, reversing the proposed scrapping of the 45p rate of income tax, 10 days after it was announced in the mini-budget.

The U-turn comes after several Tory MPs voiced their opposition to the plan.

BBC political correspondent Nick Eardley said government sources were not commenting.

Ex-cabinet minister Grant Shapps had warned Liz Truss could lose a Commons vote on the proposal.

The plan to scrap the 45p rate, paid by people earning over £150,000 a year, had been criticised as unfair at time of rising living costs.

On Sunday, the prime minister told the BBC she was committed to it, saying it was part of an "overall package of making our tax system simpler and lower".