FOREIGN Secretary James Cleverly has warned his colleagues that removing Liz Truss as Prime Minister would be a “disastrously bad idea.”

His plea came as he gave the biggest hint yet that the Chancellor could be set to row back on key planks of his mini-budget. 

Officials have reportedly warned No 10 that pressing ahead with big unfunded tax cuts could spark another financial crisis that would further drive up the cost of government borrowing and mortgages.

Ms Truss has only been in the job for 38 days, but already some of her backbenchers are talking about who should replace her. 

There are rumours of a joint ticket involving former leadership rival Rishi Sunak and leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt.

Mr Cleverly told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have got to recognise that we do need to bring certainty to the markets.

“I think changing the leadership would be a disastrously bad idea politically and also economically.

“We are absolutely going to stay focused on growing the economy.”

Mr Cleverly declined to rule out any more U-turns on the mini-budget. But he insisted the government will “absolutely stick” with its tax-cutting principles.

Just last week, Mr Kwarteng was forced to drop plans to abolish the 45p top rate of tax. There is speculation he could now ditch his pledge to stop the planned increase in corporation tax from April.

Pressed on whether the government would keep the tax cuts, Mr Cleverly told Sky News: “The last time we spoke we talked about the changes the chancellor had made to one of the elements of it.

“Ultimately, what that budget was about was protecting tens of millions of people from unaffordable energy prices. That was the bulk of that proposal.

“It was about making sure taxes for 30 million working people were reduced a little bit. Those were really strong principles. I absolutely think we should stick with those.”

He said the planned statement by the Chancellor on October 31 will set out a more “holistic” view of the government’s plans.

But he insisted the “foundations” of the mini-budget were “really key for the growth agenda the Prime Minister has put forward”.

Veteran Tory backbencher Sir Christopher Chope insisted he had “absolute confidence” in the Prime Minister.

He told Times Radio: “If I was a betting man I would now be going out and putting money on the Conservatives winning the next general election, not with a landslide but certainly with a good majority.”

However, some of his colleagues were openly critical of the Prime Minister at a tense meeting of the backbench 1922 committee on Wednesday night. 

Senior MP Robert Halfon told Ms Truss she had “trashed the last 10 years of workers’ Conservatism”.

Another unnamed MP described the mood in the room as “funereal,” while another told the Daily Mail “it was like someone trying to light a fire using a magnifying glass. Using damp wood. In the dark.”