UK
Liz Truss says she will NOT resign as Prime Minister as she announces U-turn following sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng
The Prime Minister announced a major new u-turn today after replacing her former Chancellor
Kieran Isgin
The Prime Minister announced a major new u-turn today after replacing her former Chancellor
Kieran Isgin
Manchester Life reporter
14 OCT 2022
Prime Minister Liz Truss during a press conference in the briefing room at Downing Street
(Image: Daniel Leal/PA Wire)
Prime Minister Liz Truss has denied any hints that she plans to resign after sacking her Chancellor earlier today.
Kwasi Kwarteng said that he accepted Ms Truss's request to "stand aside" from the senior position as she prepared to announce a series of u-turns on her mini-budget which was announced at the beginning of her premiership. Today, at a press conference in Downing Street, the Prime Minister defended her policies, stating that she was elected by her party to deliver a "low tax, high wage, high growth economy".
It comes after she announced she would be reversing her policy to scrap the planned rise in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent - which was introduced by former Chancellor Rishi Sunak. She told reporters earlier this afternoon that she's always "been ambitious for growth".
Read more: Jeremy Hunt appointed chancellor after Kwasi Kwarteng sacked
At Downing Street, she said opened her press conference by saying: "My conviction that this country needs to go for growth is rooted in my personal experience. I know what it’s like to grow up somewhere that isn’t feeling the benefits of growth.
"I saw what that meant. And I’m not prepared to accept that for our country. I want a country where people can get good jobs, new businesses can set up and families can afford an even better life.
Prime Minister Liz Truss has denied any hints that she plans to resign after sacking her Chancellor earlier today.
Kwasi Kwarteng said that he accepted Ms Truss's request to "stand aside" from the senior position as she prepared to announce a series of u-turns on her mini-budget which was announced at the beginning of her premiership. Today, at a press conference in Downing Street, the Prime Minister defended her policies, stating that she was elected by her party to deliver a "low tax, high wage, high growth economy".
It comes after she announced she would be reversing her policy to scrap the planned rise in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent - which was introduced by former Chancellor Rishi Sunak. She told reporters earlier this afternoon that she's always "been ambitious for growth".
Read more: Jeremy Hunt appointed chancellor after Kwasi Kwarteng sacked
At Downing Street, she said opened her press conference by saying: "My conviction that this country needs to go for growth is rooted in my personal experience. I know what it’s like to grow up somewhere that isn’t feeling the benefits of growth.
"I saw what that meant. And I’m not prepared to accept that for our country. I want a country where people can get good jobs, new businesses can set up and families can afford an even better life.
Liz Truss has confirmed a u-turn on corporation tax
(Image: Daniel Leal/PA Wire)
“That’s why from day one, I’ve been ambitious for growth.” She insisted that she will "always act in the national interest" while tackling the current economic turmoil, stating: "We will get through this storm".
She added: "It is clear that parts of our mini-budget went further and faster than markets were expecting so the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change." When asked by reporters if she planned to resign, she said: "I am absolutely determined to see through what I have promised.”
The Prime Minister continued: “I met the former chancellor earlier today. I was incredibly sorry to lose him. He is a great friend and he shares my vision to set this country on the path to growth.
“Today, I have asked Jeremy Hunt to take over as Chancellor – he is one of the most experienced and widely respected Government ministers and parliamentarians. He shares my convictions and my ambitions for our country.”
She also admitted the failings of the mini-budget, saying: "It is clear that parts of our mini-budget went further and faster than markets were expecting. So the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change.
“We need to act now to reassure the markets of our fiscal discipline. I have therefore decided to keep the increase in corporation tax that was planned by the previous government.
“This will raise £18 billion per year. It will act as a down payment on our full medium-term fiscal plan which will be accompanied by a forecast from the independent OBR. We will do whatever is necessary to ensure debt is falling as a share of the economy in the medium term.”
“That’s why from day one, I’ve been ambitious for growth.” She insisted that she will "always act in the national interest" while tackling the current economic turmoil, stating: "We will get through this storm".
She added: "It is clear that parts of our mini-budget went further and faster than markets were expecting so the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change." When asked by reporters if she planned to resign, she said: "I am absolutely determined to see through what I have promised.”
The Prime Minister continued: “I met the former chancellor earlier today. I was incredibly sorry to lose him. He is a great friend and he shares my vision to set this country on the path to growth.
“Today, I have asked Jeremy Hunt to take over as Chancellor – he is one of the most experienced and widely respected Government ministers and parliamentarians. He shares my convictions and my ambitions for our country.”
She also admitted the failings of the mini-budget, saying: "It is clear that parts of our mini-budget went further and faster than markets were expecting. So the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change.
“We need to act now to reassure the markets of our fiscal discipline. I have therefore decided to keep the increase in corporation tax that was planned by the previous government.
“This will raise £18 billion per year. It will act as a down payment on our full medium-term fiscal plan which will be accompanied by a forecast from the independent OBR. We will do whatever is necessary to ensure debt is falling as a share of the economy in the medium term.”
Jeremy Hunt has been appointed the next Chancellor (Image: Aaron Chown/PA Wire)
When questioned on why she should remain as Prime Minister after reversing key economic policies, she told the conference: "I’m absolutely determined to see through what I have promised, to deliver a higher growth, more prosperous United Kingdom, to see us through the storm we face.
“We’ve already delivered the energy price guarantee making sure people aren’t facing huge bills this winter. But it was right in the face of the issues that we had that I acted decisively to ensure that we have economic stability, because that is vitally important to people and businesses right across our country.”
When questioned on why she should remain as Prime Minister after reversing key economic policies, she told the conference: "I’m absolutely determined to see through what I have promised, to deliver a higher growth, more prosperous United Kingdom, to see us through the storm we face.
“We’ve already delivered the energy price guarantee making sure people aren’t facing huge bills this winter. But it was right in the face of the issues that we had that I acted decisively to ensure that we have economic stability, because that is vitally important to people and businesses right across our country.”
Leaked WhatsApp messages reveal Tory rows over whether to oust Liz Truss
Leaked WhatsApp messages between Tory MPs are exposing the ever-yawning gap between Liz Truss and the Conservative Party.
The prime minister today clinched to power by firing Kwasi Kwarteng for implementing her own government’s financial policy.
But some 30 minutes before her press conference, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries allegedly sparred against MP Crispin Blunt’s calls to oust Truss.
In screenshots of a WhatsApp group shared by Sky News, Mr Blunt appeared to urge Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt to take over as leaders in a joint ticket.
‘Does throwing your closest colleague under the bus count as a symptom?’ he told the ‘Conservative back bench’ WhatsApp group, according to the screenshots.
The Reigate MP appeared to say: ‘Enough. Emergency repair needed for our party and our country.
‘Step forward Rishi and Penny, with our support and encouragement in the interests of us all.’
Ms Dorries, however, bluntly shot down the idea, writing: ‘Followed by a general election?
‘I love you, Crispin, but if you seriously think we can impose another leader without one that the media and the people would allow that you need to lie down!
‘We may as well embrace dictatorship [because] it’s the most un-democratic proposal imaginable.’
There were further grunts and grumbles from backbenchers over Mr Krwarteng’s decision to bring the publication of his financial strategy and independent economic forecast to Halloween.
One MP said: ‘Cannot believe we are having a statement on Halloween. Why don’t we just print the headlines now?’
Another MP in agreement added: ‘Witches outfits, smoke and mirrors, [etc].’
While a third MP said: ‘Nightmare on Downing Street. In short… cannot be Halloween.’
In a brief news conference from Downing Street, Ms Truss vowed to raise the country’s corporate tax rate — tearing up her campaign promise not to.
‘It is clear that parts of our mini budget went further and faster than markets were expecting,’ Ms Truss said, adding: ‘We need to act now to reassure the markets.’
Yet it appeared her stark retreat did little to soothe the fears of her MPs.
The Guardian political editor Pippa Crerar claimed: ‘Tory MPs already texting to say they think that Liz Truss’s press conference has actually made things worse.’
It follows comments made by Ms Dorries earlier today where she accused senior Tories of trying to ‘overturn democracy’ by plotting to remove Ms Truss.
‘Those absurdly called grandee MPs (men) agitating to remove Liz Truss are all Sunak supporters,’ she tweeted.
‘They agitated to remove [Boris Johnson] and now they will continue plotting until they get their way.
‘It’s a plot not to remove a PM but to overturn democracy. #BackLiz.’
Astonishing U-turn by British Prime Minister Liz Truss —fires finance minister
UK's Truss U-turns on tax, ditches finance minister
British Prime Minister Liz Truss fired her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday and scrapped parts of their economic package in a desperate bid to stay in power and survive the market and political turmoil gripping the country. Lauren Anthony reports.
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has fired her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng and scrapped parts of their economic package in a desperate bid to stay in power and survive the market and political turmoil gripping the country.
Mr Kwarteng said he had resigned at the request of Ms Truss after being forced to rush back to London overnight from IMF meetings in Washington DC.
Ms Truss, in power for only 37 days, told a news conference she would now allow a key business levy to rise from next year, raising 18 billion pounds ($32 billion), as she accepted she had gone “further and faster” than markets had been expecting.
“We need to act now to reassure the markets of our fiscal discipline,” she said.
Her predecessor had planned to increase corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent, which Truss campaigned against.
Ms Truss appointed Jeremy Hunt, a former foreign and health secretary, to replace Kwarteng on Friday.
“You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted,” Kwarteng said in his resignation letter to Truss, which he published on Twitter.
She said in response: “As a long standing friend and colleague. I am deeply sorry to lose you from the government.
“We share the same vision.”
The pound slid against the US dollar after she spoke, trading 1.2 per cent lower on the day at $US1.1198 and two-year UK government bonds, or gilts turned negative.
The plan for unfunded tax cuts crushed UK assets and drew international censure, but the pound and gilts have started to recover since the government started looking for ways to balance the books.
Kwasi Kwarteng is the country’s shortest serving chancellor since 1970, and his successor will be the fourth finance minister in as many months in the United Kingdom, where millions are facing a cost of living crisis.
The finance minister with the shortest tenure died.
The prime minister’s position is in jeopardy.
Liz Truss won the Conservative Party leadership last month by promising vast tax cuts and deregulation to try to shock the economy out of years of stagnant growth, and the fiscal policy Kwarteng announced on September 23 aimed to deliver that vision.
But the response from markets was so ferocious that the Bank of England had to intervene to prevent pension funds from being caught up in the chaos as borrowing and mortgage costs surged.
The duo had been under mounting pressure to reverse course after polls showed support for the Conservative Party had collapsed, prompting many colleagues to look for ways to force them out of office.
“The party loves the idea of principles and conviction politicians but staying in power is everything,” one party insider told Reuters.
“Ruthless can also be popular.”
Having triggered a market rout, Truss now runs the risk of bringing the government down if she cannot find a package of public spending cuts and tax rises that can appease investors and get through any parliamentary vote in the House of Commons.
Her search for savings will be made harder by the fact the government has been cutting departmental budgets for years.
At the same time Conservative Party discipline has all but broken down, fractured by infighting as it struggled first to agree a way to leave the European Union and then how to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and grow the economy.
“If you can’t get your budget through parliament you can’t govern,” Chris Bryant, a senior MP from the opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter.
“This isn’t about u-turns, it’s about proper governance.”
– with AAP
UK's Truss U-turns on tax, ditches finance minister
British Prime Minister Liz Truss fired her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday and scrapped parts of their economic package in a desperate bid to stay in power and survive the market and political turmoil gripping the country. Lauren Anthony reports.
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has fired her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng and scrapped parts of their economic package in a desperate bid to stay in power and survive the market and political turmoil gripping the country.
Mr Kwarteng said he had resigned at the request of Ms Truss after being forced to rush back to London overnight from IMF meetings in Washington DC.
— Kwasi Kwarteng (@KwasiKwarteng) October 14, 2022
Ms Truss, in power for only 37 days, told a news conference she would now allow a key business levy to rise from next year, raising 18 billion pounds ($32 billion), as she accepted she had gone “further and faster” than markets had been expecting.
“We need to act now to reassure the markets of our fiscal discipline,” she said.
Her predecessor had planned to increase corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent, which Truss campaigned against.
Ms Truss appointed Jeremy Hunt, a former foreign and health secretary, to replace Kwarteng on Friday.
“You have asked me to stand aside as your Chancellor. I have accepted,” Kwarteng said in his resignation letter to Truss, which he published on Twitter.
She said in response: “As a long standing friend and colleague. I am deeply sorry to lose you from the government.
“We share the same vision.”
Related story: Why Australia’s stage-three tax cuts are not the answer
The pound slid against the US dollar after she spoke, trading 1.2 per cent lower on the day at $US1.1198 and two-year UK government bonds, or gilts turned negative.
The plan for unfunded tax cuts crushed UK assets and drew international censure, but the pound and gilts have started to recover since the government started looking for ways to balance the books.
Kwasi Kwarteng is the country’s shortest serving chancellor since 1970, and his successor will be the fourth finance minister in as many months in the United Kingdom, where millions are facing a cost of living crisis.
The finance minister with the shortest tenure died.
The prime minister’s position is in jeopardy.
Liz Truss won the Conservative Party leadership last month by promising vast tax cuts and deregulation to try to shock the economy out of years of stagnant growth, and the fiscal policy Kwarteng announced on September 23 aimed to deliver that vision.
But the response from markets was so ferocious that the Bank of England had to intervene to prevent pension funds from being caught up in the chaos as borrowing and mortgage costs surged.
The duo had been under mounting pressure to reverse course after polls showed support for the Conservative Party had collapsed, prompting many colleagues to look for ways to force them out of office.
“The party loves the idea of principles and conviction politicians but staying in power is everything,” one party insider told Reuters.
“Ruthless can also be popular.”
Having triggered a market rout, Truss now runs the risk of bringing the government down if she cannot find a package of public spending cuts and tax rises that can appease investors and get through any parliamentary vote in the House of Commons.
Her search for savings will be made harder by the fact the government has been cutting departmental budgets for years.
At the same time Conservative Party discipline has all but broken down, fractured by infighting as it struggled first to agree a way to leave the European Union and then how to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and grow the economy.
“If you can’t get your budget through parliament you can’t govern,” Chris Bryant, a senior MP from the opposition Labour Party, said on Twitter.
“This isn’t about u-turns, it’s about proper governance.”
– with AAP
Expectation that new chancellor Jeremy Hunt will rewrite Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget
THE INDEPENDENT
Liz Truss could be removed as prime minister within “days or weeks” after a botched attempt to shore up her tottering premiership by sacking her chancellor and U-turning on one of her flagship policies, Conservative MPs believe.
Expectation in Westminster was that a group of Tory grandees will visit the PM, possibly as early as next week, to inform her that crumbling support on the backbenches means “the game is up” and she should consider her position.
In dramatic scenes, Ms Truss fired her close ally Kwasi Kwarteng, installing Jeremy Hunt as chancellor in his place in a bid to calm the markets, before going before the TV cameras to announce she will go ahead with the 6p hike in corporation tax which she had previously vowed to cancel.
But her eight-minute press conference, in which she took just four questions, was greeted with dismay by Tories, with one describing it as “agony” and another “shockingly bad”.
One former minister told The Independent: “She made Theresa May look like Barack Obama. She can’t communicate. She’s just not up to it.”
Another said: “She looked like she had been dragged there like a reluctant child being forced to explain itself. There was no contrition.”
And the markets did not respond with the relief Downing Street was hoping for. Having fallen on the news of Mr Kwarteng’s dismissal, gilt yields – effectively the interest rate charged for government borrowing – rose steeply after the PM’s appearance, ending the day higher than they began.
Senior ministers said that further volatility next week, following Friday’s closure of an emergency Bank of Engand bond-purchasing programme, could bring a hasty end to her premiership.
A snap poll of 1,088 voters by Savanta ComRes found that more than half (52 per cent) thought Truss was right to sack her chancellor, with 22 per cent saying she was wrong. But just 15 per cent said her decisions gave them more confidence in her premiership, against 44 per cent who were less confident.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, whose party surged to a 34-point lead on 53 per cent to the Conservatives’ 19 in the latest poll, called for a general election. Truss had driven the economy “into a wall” while “trashing our institutions”, he said.
The prime minister said she was “incredibly sorry” to lose her long-time ally and friend. But neither Ms Truss nor Mr Kwarteng made any apology for the 23 September mini-Budget, which sent markets into a spin with a £45bn unfunded tax giveaway.
The prime minister said only that parts of the package had gone “further and faster than markets were expecting”, and required change to provide reassurance of the government’s “fiscal discipline”.
Just two days after telling the House of Commons there would be no cuts to public services, the PM admitted for the first time that spending will have to be reined in to fill the black hole left in the nation’s finances by Mr Kwarteng.
Economic think tank the Resolution Foundation calculated that, even after the £18.7bn U-turn on corporation tax – and the previous climbdown on a £2bn tax break for high earners – cuts totalling £20-£40bn will be needed to get debt falling as a proportion of GDP.
MPs made clear they expect Mr Hunt to rip up further elements of the Kwarteng package in the 31 October medium-term fiscal plan, in which he will set out tax and spend plans.
Former cabinet minister David Gauke said Truss was now “the prisoner of the Treasury, because it is the Treasury who will be telling the prime minister precisely what they need to do”.
One former minister told The Independent that Mr Hunt must have been given a “completely free hand” to review and rewrite Mr Kwarteng’s mini-Budget for him to have agreed to become the fourth chancellor within the space of four months.
Others suggested that the former health secretary may have taken the post to put himself in pole position for a looming leadership contest.
One MP said Ms Truss’s removal was now regarded as “imminent” by Tory parliamentarians, who were actively discussing how to ensure that they – and not the party membership – have the final say on choosing a successor.
“Everybody is talking in the corridors and on the WhatsApp groups about how awful it is,” said another. “There are two things they are asking – how can she be removed and has she got days or weeks?
“Even her supporters are joining the ranks of the disaffected. They have been sent out on the airwaves to defend her policy and now they have been made to look like idiots. Everybody is pissed off.”
Another former minister said: “She had a tiny glimpse of hope, and she blew it. This was the moment to completely change course. And she couldn’t even get the car out of neutral.”
And another added: “It’s not enough for the markets, and it’s too little too late for the party. And voters will just think it’s embarrassing.”
Ms Truss insisted in her press conference that she remained committed to her “mission to go for growth”, and again blamed global economic conditions and the war in Ukraine for the financial turbulence of the last month in the UK.
She conceded that “the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change”, but added: “I want to be honest, this is difficult, but we will get through this storm and we will deliver the strong and sustained growth that can transform the prosperity of our country for generations to come.”
Mr Kwarteng’s removal came after he cut short a visit to New York to fly home following reports in The Independent that No 10 was planning to ditch parts of his Budget.
There was no sign of contrition in his letter to the PM accepting his dismissal after just 38 days as chancellor, and one day after he said he was “absolutely 100 per cent” sure he would stay.
Promising his support to Ms Truss, he stressed that he had been following her free-market agenda and wanted her to stick to it, saying: “I believe your vision is the right one.”
One Tory MP told The Independent that pushing Mr Kwarteng under a bus was a “last-ditch desperate measure” which would do nothing to restore her credibility, given that he had simply been implementing her economic agenda. The PM was now a lame duck who would no longer be able to get anything through parliament.
“Her days are numbered,” said the MP, who said conversations were under way on how she can be replaced before 31 October. “Let’s rip off the plaster quickly – we don’t want weeks and weeks of this.”
Another said: “She captivated the members with a fantasy during the leadership contest, but we have got to let go of that fantasy and hope that this is just a three or four-month interlude in the Conservative Party’s long and successful history.”
However, there were warnings that ejecting a third leader in three years will backfire on the party.
Veteran backbencher Sir Christopher Chope told Times Radio that “the hyenas are on the hunt” but warned that removing the PM would make the Conservatives “even more of a laughing stock than we are already”.
And, in a WhatsApp spat with fellow MPs, Nadine Dorries said that anyone who thought they could change leader again without a general election “needs a lie-down”.
CBI director general Tony Danker said it was “important” that the PM had responded to market concerns and called on the new chancellor to “continue to restore fiscal credibility to give markets and business confidence to invest”.
But TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Today’s U-turn will not help families already hit by higher mortgages and higher prices. And sacking the chancellor for implementing the prime minister’s plans is not the total change of direction we need.”
Liz Truss could be removed as prime minister within “days or weeks” after a botched attempt to shore up her tottering premiership by sacking her chancellor and U-turning on one of her flagship policies, Conservative MPs believe.
Expectation in Westminster was that a group of Tory grandees will visit the PM, possibly as early as next week, to inform her that crumbling support on the backbenches means “the game is up” and she should consider her position.
In dramatic scenes, Ms Truss fired her close ally Kwasi Kwarteng, installing Jeremy Hunt as chancellor in his place in a bid to calm the markets, before going before the TV cameras to announce she will go ahead with the 6p hike in corporation tax which she had previously vowed to cancel.
But her eight-minute press conference, in which she took just four questions, was greeted with dismay by Tories, with one describing it as “agony” and another “shockingly bad”.
One former minister told The Independent: “She made Theresa May look like Barack Obama. She can’t communicate. She’s just not up to it.”
Another said: “She looked like she had been dragged there like a reluctant child being forced to explain itself. There was no contrition.”
And the markets did not respond with the relief Downing Street was hoping for. Having fallen on the news of Mr Kwarteng’s dismissal, gilt yields – effectively the interest rate charged for government borrowing – rose steeply after the PM’s appearance, ending the day higher than they began.
Senior ministers said that further volatility next week, following Friday’s closure of an emergency Bank of Engand bond-purchasing programme, could bring a hasty end to her premiership.
A snap poll of 1,088 voters by Savanta ComRes found that more than half (52 per cent) thought Truss was right to sack her chancellor, with 22 per cent saying she was wrong. But just 15 per cent said her decisions gave them more confidence in her premiership, against 44 per cent who were less confident.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, whose party surged to a 34-point lead on 53 per cent to the Conservatives’ 19 in the latest poll, called for a general election. Truss had driven the economy “into a wall” while “trashing our institutions”, he said.
The prime minister said she was “incredibly sorry” to lose her long-time ally and friend. But neither Ms Truss nor Mr Kwarteng made any apology for the 23 September mini-Budget, which sent markets into a spin with a £45bn unfunded tax giveaway.
The prime minister said only that parts of the package had gone “further and faster than markets were expecting”, and required change to provide reassurance of the government’s “fiscal discipline”.
Just two days after telling the House of Commons there would be no cuts to public services, the PM admitted for the first time that spending will have to be reined in to fill the black hole left in the nation’s finances by Mr Kwarteng.
Economic think tank the Resolution Foundation calculated that, even after the £18.7bn U-turn on corporation tax – and the previous climbdown on a £2bn tax break for high earners – cuts totalling £20-£40bn will be needed to get debt falling as a proportion of GDP.
MPs made clear they expect Mr Hunt to rip up further elements of the Kwarteng package in the 31 October medium-term fiscal plan, in which he will set out tax and spend plans.
Former cabinet minister David Gauke said Truss was now “the prisoner of the Treasury, because it is the Treasury who will be telling the prime minister precisely what they need to do”.
One former minister told The Independent that Mr Hunt must have been given a “completely free hand” to review and rewrite Mr Kwarteng’s mini-Budget for him to have agreed to become the fourth chancellor within the space of four months.
Others suggested that the former health secretary may have taken the post to put himself in pole position for a looming leadership contest.
One MP said Ms Truss’s removal was now regarded as “imminent” by Tory parliamentarians, who were actively discussing how to ensure that they – and not the party membership – have the final say on choosing a successor.
“Everybody is talking in the corridors and on the WhatsApp groups about how awful it is,” said another. “There are two things they are asking – how can she be removed and has she got days or weeks?
“Even her supporters are joining the ranks of the disaffected. They have been sent out on the airwaves to defend her policy and now they have been made to look like idiots. Everybody is pissed off.”
Another former minister said: “She had a tiny glimpse of hope, and she blew it. This was the moment to completely change course. And she couldn’t even get the car out of neutral.”
And another added: “It’s not enough for the markets, and it’s too little too late for the party. And voters will just think it’s embarrassing.”
Ms Truss insisted in her press conference that she remained committed to her “mission to go for growth”, and again blamed global economic conditions and the war in Ukraine for the financial turbulence of the last month in the UK.
She conceded that “the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change”, but added: “I want to be honest, this is difficult, but we will get through this storm and we will deliver the strong and sustained growth that can transform the prosperity of our country for generations to come.”
Mr Kwarteng’s removal came after he cut short a visit to New York to fly home following reports in The Independent that No 10 was planning to ditch parts of his Budget.
There was no sign of contrition in his letter to the PM accepting his dismissal after just 38 days as chancellor, and one day after he said he was “absolutely 100 per cent” sure he would stay.
Promising his support to Ms Truss, he stressed that he had been following her free-market agenda and wanted her to stick to it, saying: “I believe your vision is the right one.”
One Tory MP told The Independent that pushing Mr Kwarteng under a bus was a “last-ditch desperate measure” which would do nothing to restore her credibility, given that he had simply been implementing her economic agenda. The PM was now a lame duck who would no longer be able to get anything through parliament.
“Her days are numbered,” said the MP, who said conversations were under way on how she can be replaced before 31 October. “Let’s rip off the plaster quickly – we don’t want weeks and weeks of this.”
Another said: “She captivated the members with a fantasy during the leadership contest, but we have got to let go of that fantasy and hope that this is just a three or four-month interlude in the Conservative Party’s long and successful history.”
However, there were warnings that ejecting a third leader in three years will backfire on the party.
Veteran backbencher Sir Christopher Chope told Times Radio that “the hyenas are on the hunt” but warned that removing the PM would make the Conservatives “even more of a laughing stock than we are already”.
And, in a WhatsApp spat with fellow MPs, Nadine Dorries said that anyone who thought they could change leader again without a general election “needs a lie-down”.
CBI director general Tony Danker said it was “important” that the PM had responded to market concerns and called on the new chancellor to “continue to restore fiscal credibility to give markets and business confidence to invest”.
But TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Today’s U-turn will not help families already hit by higher mortgages and higher prices. And sacking the chancellor for implementing the prime minister’s plans is not the total change of direction we need.”
Tories ‘planning to replace Liz Truss with Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt’
Harrison Jones
Harrison Jones
Thursday
13 Oct 2022
Some senior Tories believe a joint ticket of Mordaunt (right) and Sunak
could unite the party if the PM is forced from office (Picture: Rex/Getty)
Top Tories are considering ousting the prime minister and replacing her with a joint ticket of Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak, it has been claimed.
The move would see either one of Liz Truss’ defeated rivals installed as PM, with the other given a key role as their number two, according to The Times.
The paper reported that Mr Sunak would be Chancellor under a Mordaunt Government, while she would become foreign secretary and deputy prime minister if he took the reigns.
The revelations come amid increasing Conservative unease about Ms Truss’ premiership, with the PM widely expected to make another humiliating U-turn on her disastrous mini-budget, which has sparked financial meltdown.
There has been growing public and private criticism of the PM and her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, while disastrous polling for the Tories has consistently put Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour around 30 points ahead.
In a bid to avoid an election wipe out, senior Tories are now thought to be seriously discussing removing Ms Truss from office after just six weeks and – instead of electing a new leader – giving her successor a ‘coronation’.
That would require a change to party rules, first to force the PM out in less than a year and then to make sure only one candidate can get enough MPs to back them to make the next stage in a leadership contest.
Top Tories are considering ousting the prime minister and replacing her with a joint ticket of Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak, it has been claimed.
The move would see either one of Liz Truss’ defeated rivals installed as PM, with the other given a key role as their number two, according to The Times.
The paper reported that Mr Sunak would be Chancellor under a Mordaunt Government, while she would become foreign secretary and deputy prime minister if he took the reigns.
The revelations come amid increasing Conservative unease about Ms Truss’ premiership, with the PM widely expected to make another humiliating U-turn on her disastrous mini-budget, which has sparked financial meltdown.
There has been growing public and private criticism of the PM and her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, while disastrous polling for the Tories has consistently put Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour around 30 points ahead.
In a bid to avoid an election wipe out, senior Tories are now thought to be seriously discussing removing Ms Truss from office after just six weeks and – instead of electing a new leader – giving her successor a ‘coronation’.
That would require a change to party rules, first to force the PM out in less than a year and then to make sure only one candidate can get enough MPs to back them to make the next stage in a leadership contest.
Could Mr Sunak make a sensational return as PM or Chancellor?
(Picture: Getty Images)
One MP told the Times: ‘Rishi’s people, Penny’s people and the sensible Truss supporters who realise she’s a disaster just need to sit down together and work out who the unity candidate is.
‘It’s either Rishi as prime minister with Penny as his deputy and foreign secretary, or Penny as prime minister with Rishi as chancellor.
‘They would promise to lead a government of all the talents and most MPs would fall in behind that.’
That would make the would-be leader the fifth Conservative leader in six years after David Cameron stepped down as PM in July 2016.
Richmond MP Mr Sunak was Boris Johnson’s chancellor and repeatedly warned that Ms Truss’ tax cutting agenda could spark economic turmoil before losing to her in the final stage of this summer’s leadership election.
One MP told the Times: ‘Rishi’s people, Penny’s people and the sensible Truss supporters who realise she’s a disaster just need to sit down together and work out who the unity candidate is.
‘It’s either Rishi as prime minister with Penny as his deputy and foreign secretary, or Penny as prime minister with Rishi as chancellor.
‘They would promise to lead a government of all the talents and most MPs would fall in behind that.’
That would make the would-be leader the fifth Conservative leader in six years after David Cameron stepped down as PM in July 2016.
Richmond MP Mr Sunak was Boris Johnson’s chancellor and repeatedly warned that Ms Truss’ tax cutting agenda could spark economic turmoil before losing to her in the final stage of this summer’s leadership election.
Ms Mordaunt could come in as deputy prime minister and foreign secretary in a Sunak government, it has been suggested (Picture: Reuters)
Portsmouth North’s Ms Mordaunt came third in that race and was given the role of Leader of the House of Commons by Ms Truss.
A senior Tory told The Times: ‘A coronation won’t be that hard to arrange.
‘In 2019 candidates needed eight MPs to get on the ballot paper. This year they needed 20. Next time it will be however high it needs to be for only one candidate to clear it.’
Earlier today, another unnamed Conservative claimed it is ‘premature’ for the party to think about getting rid of Ms Truss.
The MP said it would be seen as ‘completely bonkers to have three prime ministers in one year’.Prime suspect in Leah Croucher murder killed himself two months after she vanished
This morning, ConservativeHome editor Paul Goodman told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: ‘All sorts of different people are talking about all sorts of different things because the Conservative backbenchers are casting around for a possible replacement for Kwasi Kwarteng, even for a possible replacement for Liz Truss.
‘All sorts of names are being thrown about, Rishi Sunak, even Boris Johnson, Kit Malthouse, Sajid Javid.
‘But one idea doing the rounds is that Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak, who, after all, between them got pretty much two-thirds of the votes of MPs, come to some kind of arrangement and essentially take over.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Downing Street for comment.
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Portsmouth North’s Ms Mordaunt came third in that race and was given the role of Leader of the House of Commons by Ms Truss.
A senior Tory told The Times: ‘A coronation won’t be that hard to arrange.
‘In 2019 candidates needed eight MPs to get on the ballot paper. This year they needed 20. Next time it will be however high it needs to be for only one candidate to clear it.’
Earlier today, another unnamed Conservative claimed it is ‘premature’ for the party to think about getting rid of Ms Truss.
The MP said it would be seen as ‘completely bonkers to have three prime ministers in one year’.Prime suspect in Leah Croucher murder killed himself two months after she vanished
This morning, ConservativeHome editor Paul Goodman told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme: ‘All sorts of different people are talking about all sorts of different things because the Conservative backbenchers are casting around for a possible replacement for Kwasi Kwarteng, even for a possible replacement for Liz Truss.
‘All sorts of names are being thrown about, Rishi Sunak, even Boris Johnson, Kit Malthouse, Sajid Javid.
‘But one idea doing the rounds is that Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak, who, after all, between them got pretty much two-thirds of the votes of MPs, come to some kind of arrangement and essentially take over.’
Metro.co.uk has contacted Downing Street for comment.
MORE : Truss supporter admits she’s ‘cardboard’ and Tories are ‘f****d’
MORE : Vanessa Feltz defends Liz Truss over King Charles III exchange after PM is mercilessly mocked by critics
