With rumours of U-turn swirling, what next in chaotic world of Britain PLC?
What next? It's a question that few feel able to answer in Westminster.
Rumours of a U-turn on the Government's mini budget have been rife, despite denials by 10 Downing Street.
The uncertainty is certainly not good for our economy. Without a plan to make the national books balance, investors are running scared. It means shares are falling, the pound has collapsed and Government bonds and gilts are being abandoned.
Meanwhile some sources, including some from within the Tory Party, are starting to ask the previously unthinkable – could Prime Minister Liz Truss be forced out just five weeks into her premiership?
That would almost certainly lead to a general election and leave the door open to a Labour government.
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly isn't one to countenance such drastic action. He said a change at the top of the party would be a "disastrously bad idea".
While Downing Street insisted there were no plans for further changes to the mini-budget package, the financial markets appeared to disagree.
There was an expectation among experts that there would be further moves to ditch elements of the Chancellor's tax-cutting plans in order to demonstrate a commitment to balancing the books.
The mini-budget's plan to increase borrowing to fund tax cuts caused turmoil on the financial markets, which sent Tory poll ratings plummeting and eventually led to Mr Kwarteng abandoning plans to scrap the 45p rate of income tax for top earners.
Once one U-turn happens within government, others often follow.
And reports suggest talks are under way between No 10 and the Treasury on abandoning other elements of the £43 billion tax-cutting plan, including the commitment to axe a planned increase in corporation tax.
The managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it is sometimes right for a "recalibration" of policies.
Kristalina Georgieva said: "Our message to everybody, not just the UK, is that at this time, fiscal policy should not undermine monetary policy."
She added that "it is correct to be led by the evidence, so if the evidence is that there has to be a recalibration, it's right for governments to do so".
Ms Georgieva also confirmed IMF leaders have had a "constructive" meeting with Mr Kwarteng after the institution's chief economist said the UK Government's tax cuts threatened to cause "problems" for the British economy.
The scale of the backlash to the mini-budget has led to further speculation over the Prime Minister's position.
At a stormy meeting of the backbench 1922 Committee in Westminster on Wednesday, Commons Education Committee chairman Robert Halfon told Ms Truss she had "trashed the last 10 years of workers' Conservatism".
Meanwhile, the editor of the influential ConservativeHome website, Paul Goodman, suggested there has been speculation about replacing Ms Truss with a joint ticket involving her former leadership rivals Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt.
But Mr Cleverly said: "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 further U-turns on the mini-budget – while insisting the Government will "absolutely stick" with its tax-cutting principles – but the Prime Minister's official spokesman made clear there will be no further changes.
"The position has not changed," the spokesman said.
If changes are made, economists and Tory MPs think the reinstatement of the previously-planned increase in corporation tax from next April may be the most likely move.
Asked if the Government will stick with the policies of the mini-budget, Mr Cleverly said the "bulk" of the mini-budget was the package to protect households and businesses from soaring energy costs.
But it was also "about making sure that taxes for 30 million people were reduced a little bit and those are really strong principles" and "I think we should absolutely 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 the "foundations" of the mini-budget were "really key for the growth agenda the Prime Minister has put forward".
