Britain's new finance minister urges unity

The United Kingdom's new finance minister has called on lawmakers from the ruling Conservative Party to support the nation's embattled prime minister.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt urged members of Parliament to back Liz Truss, who only came to office 40 days earlier after a political coup ousted Boris Johnson.

He said the party's lawmakers should move beyond the financial and political turbulence of recent days that culminated in the sacking of former chancellor of the exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday because a new leadership battle is "the last thing that people really want".

Hunt took over the UK's purse strings after Truss fired Kwarteng because of an economic meltdown triggered by his disastrous Sept 23 mini-budget, which called for 43 billion pounds ($48 billion) of tax cuts at a time when the UK's national bank was trying to shrink disposable income and limit consumer spending in order to lower inflation.

With the government and the Bank of England apparently pulling in opposite directions, there was a loss of confidence in the British government's financial acumen that triggered a devaluation of sterling, which slumped to its lowest-ever value against the dollar.

Hunt said on the weekend he will revisit the mini-budget, and that nothing is off the table.

"Taxes are not going to come down by as much as people hoped, and some taxes will have to go up," he said on Radio 4's Today program. "I'm going to be asking all government departments to find additional efficiency savings."

Truss's supporters will hope he can quickly undo the damage and diffuse a growing revolt against her among members of the Conservative Party.

Hunt insisted Truss now knows Kwarteng's mini-budget went "too far, too fast".

"She's listened, she's changed, she's been willing to do that most difficult thing in politics which is to change tack," he said.

He added that the government's attempts to encourage economic growth will now be "underpinned by stability".

But Hunt and Truss will have their work cut out in assuaging rebellious MPs, The Guardian newspaper reported. It said several believe Truss should have taken more responsibility for Kwarteng's mini-budget because it promised the sort of tax cuts she had advocated during the Conservative Party leadership contest.

The paper said many Conservative Party MPs believe she is responsible for instability that includes rampant inflation likely to hit 18 percent next year, fast-rising fuels bills that have shot up more quickly than in other European nations, and disquiet among workers that has led to a series of crippling national strikes.

The Sunday Times newspaper said "dozens" of Conservative Party MPs now want her gone, with The Sunday Telegraph saying the party is effectively "on the brink of open warfare".

The Sunday Mirror even had a suggestion for Truss's replacement, with Ben Wallace, the UK's defense minister, cited as the logical choice for the next leader.