Pound – live: Government’s energy bill cap at £2,500 comes into effect

This live blog is now closed for today.

As the biggest rail strike in four decades began, the general secretary of the RMT union has attacked what he says are the government’s plans for the railway.

Mick Lynch claims ministers plan to shut every ticket office in Britain and remove guards from trains.

The rail union boss said: “We cannot go back to having guard-less trains, as [former transport secretary] Grant Shapps called it.

“We cannot accept the closure of all the ticket offices in Britain. That’s what’s on the table. No ticket office will exist on the national railway network if Grant Shapps’ plan goes forward.”

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has more:

Climate protesters have brought Westminster Bridge to a standstill, with activists sitting in the road and playing instruments.

Against the background of the Palace of Westminster, dozens of people have blocked traffic to chant slogans about the climate crisis.

Several people kept up a steady drumbeat on instruments decorated with the Extinction Rebellion logo, watched by police.

The Tory Mayor of the West Midlands has rebuked a fellow Conservative for describing Birmingham as a “dump” after he travelled to the city during party conference season.

Daniel Grainger, the chairman of Young Conservative Network (YCN), was told to leave and “take anyone with the same views with you” by Andy Street after sharing the remark on Twitter.

Mr Grainger later apologised and deleted the post – which had read: “Birmingham is a dump.” – claiming it “was not about the city” and that he had been the victim of a mugging attempt earlier on Saturday.

The city is hosting the Conservative Party’s annual conference this week.

In a later tweet, Mr Grainger wrote: “My tweet in relation to Birmingham was not about the city or its people. I’ve always enjoyed my visits to your city, but this morning I was greeted by an individual who threatened me with a mugging.

“I was angry and tweeted without thinking, I apologise for any offence caused.

“I’d also like to directly apologise to (Andy Street), the (Conservatives) and other representatives of Birmingham for my ill conceived comments. I have now deleted the tweet.”

Protestors are setting fire to their utility bills in a demostration at Centenary Square in Birmingham today.

Several protests organised by Don’t Pay UK are taking place across Britain today.

Thousands of people have joined a march in Cardiff in favour of Welsh independence.

Campaigners carrying large flags and banners and wearing Wales football bucket hats paraded through the city centre led by a samba band.

The rally was organised by All Under One Banner Cymru (AUOB) and Yes Cymru who claim the UK Government in Westminster no longer has the best interests of Welsh people in mind.

A similar event held in Wrexham, North Wales, in July attracted around 8,000 supporters.

There were concerns about how campaigners would get to Saturday’s march given the effects of this weekend’s national rail strikes but AUOB Cymru were still confident of a large turnout.

At the front of the march, and helping to carry a long sign that says “Annibyniaeth” meaning Independence, was Plaid Cymru leader and Senedd member Adam Price.

Mr Price told the PA news agency he believed marchers were buoyed by a report published on Friday claiming to debunk the idea that Wales is “too small and too poor to thrive as an independent nation”.

Right-wing economist Patrick Minford, an informal adviser to the Liz Truss campaign, said her plan was already beginning to “slay the demons of stagflation”.

“With this mini-Budget the Truss/Kwarteng team have made a good start, setting out a new growth-maximising approach to policy,” he wrote in the Telegraph.

Encouraging Truss to keep fighting the “men in grey suits” like Margaret Thatcher, her said: “Britain’s outlook is promising. Inflation down, interest rates peaking at moderate rates that still reward savings, and growth picking up.”

Welsh secretary Robert Buckland said it was better to wait until 23 November to publish the all-important Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) assessment of the mini-Budget.

The OBR said its initial findings would be on the chancellor’s desk within a week, but Mr Buckland denied it was being “kept secret”.

“I think it’s far better to publish the full version [on 23 November] rather than drip feed out different bits of information,” the minister told BBC Breakfast. “That’s sensible. The government is not hiding away anything.”

The Danish prime minister has arrived at Downing Street for a meeting with Liz Truss.

Mette Frederiksen was greeted outside by Ms Truss – who ignored shouted questions from reporters of “are you bringing back austerity?” – slightly after 9am.

The pair shook hands on the doorstep of Number 10 accompanied by Larry the cat, which Ms Truss pointed out to her Danish counterpart with a smile.

Their meeting then moved inside, where they posed briefly for photographs in a state room.

“Nice place,” Ms Fredericksen said as she settled into a white armchair.

Thousands of people are expected to take to the streets in cities across the UK to burn their energy bills in protest at sky-high gas and electricity costs and the wider cost of living crisis.

Demonstrations are set to take place from Plymouth to Glasgow on Saturday as the energy price cap is lifted, taking the average household bill to a record £2,500 – up from £1,971.

The amount that a household pays for each kilowatt hour of electricity it uses rose to 34p from the already record 28p, while gas prices when from 7p to 10p per kilowatt hour.

My colleague Matt Mathers has more: