Tag Archives: liz truss

Kwasi Kwarteng Says He Told Liz Truss To ‘Slow Down’ On Economic Reforms That Crashed The Markets

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Kwasi Kwarteng has revealed he told Liz Truss to “slow down” with her radical economic agenda as the ex-prime minister was moving at “breakneck speed” after the disastrous mini-budget.

In his first interview since his ousting, the ex-chancellor says he warned her of being out of No 10 within “two months”.

The “slow down” claim is likely to raise eyebrows as two days after the mini-budget – which included plans to scrap the 45p income tax rate paid by the highest earners, cut stamp duty, reverse the rise in national insurance and cancel a planned rise in corporation tax – he told the BBC there was “more to come”.

Kwarteng also criticised the then-prime minister’s “mad” decision to sack him for implementing her tax-cutting agenda.

Truss ended up resigning after only 44 days in office, with her economic measures swiftly ripped up by new chancellor Jeremy Hunt and her successor in No 10, Rishi Sunak.

Kwarteng refused to apologise for the financial turmoil unleashed by his and Truss’s disastrous mini-budget, but acknowledged “there was turbulence and I regret that”.

He said the “strategic goal was right”, but “I think we should have had a much more measured approach”.

He said he bore “some responsibility” for the timetable of the mini-budget, but that Truss “was very much of the view that we needed to move things fast”.

“But I think it was too quick,” he added.

“Even after the mini budget we were going at breakneck speed. And I said, ‘You know, we should slow down, slow down’.”

“She said, ‘Well, I’ve only got two years’ and I said, ‘You will have two months if you carry on like this’. And I’m afraid that’s what happened.”

On September 23, Kwarteng announced the biggest raft of tax cuts for half a century.

The mini-budget triggered turbulence in the financial markets, sending the pound tumbling and forcing the Bank of England’s intervention.

Asked if he wanted to say sorry to the people facing extra costs in re-mortgaging, Kwarteng said: “I don’t want to relive the past.”

He added: “I do feel sorry, actually, for the people who are going through this difficult time in terms of re-mortgaging.

“I’m not going to wash my hands of what we did, I think the strategic goals (were) the right thing, but as it said, the delivery and implementation, there was no real tactical plan, there was no real timetable for it and I think we should have done that.”

The ex-chancellor said he first learned of his firing via a tweet as he travelled to a meeting with Truss in Downing Street.

“I can’t remember whether she was actually shedding tears but she was very emotional,” he said.

Describing his thinking at that moment, he said: “This is mad. Prime ministers don’t get rid of chancellors.

“I think I said to her at the time, ‘This is going to last three or four weeks’.

“Little did I know it was only going to be six days.”

Kwarteng added: “She can’t fire me for just implementing what she campaigned on. And, you know, we had a conversation.

“And I think it was very much the view that somehow she would survive if I took the fall on that.”

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Sacked Tory Chairman Accuses Braverman Of ‘Multiple’ Breaches Of Ministerial Code

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Former Tory chairman Jake Berry has alleged Suella Braverman made “multiple breaches of the ministerial code” when she was sacked as home secretary, before being dramatically re-installed by Rishi Sunak less than a week later.

Braverman admitted to a “technical infringement” of the rules as she was forced out prior to the downfall of Liz Truss, making her then the shortest-serving home secretary in history.

But Berry, who was sacked by the new prime minister on Tuesday, told Talk TV that there had been “multiple breaches” of the code, which sets out how members of the government must behave – or face punishment.

He said: “From my own knowledge, there were multiple breaches of the ministerial code.”

On Wednesday, Sunak told MPs that Braverman’s behaviour was just “an error of judgment”. Berry’s comments will raise questions over Sunak’s claims that his premiership would lead to “stability and unity”.

Braverman left her role in Truss’s cabinet after she was caught sending veteran backbench Tory John Hayes, a fellow right-winger, an official document from a personal email account.

She accidentally copied in someone she believed was Hayes’s wife, but was in fact an aide to Conservative MP Andrew Percy, who raised the alarm.

Braverman argued it was merely a draft written ministerial statement on immigration which had been due for publication imminently.

Allies said she sent it after going on a 4am immigration raid before coming clean about her “mistake”.

But officials said the file was sent much later and that the cabinet papers had first been forwarded from her ministerial account to a private Gmail account before going elsewhere.

Berry told TalkTV: “It was sent from a private email address to another member of parliament. She then sought to copy in that individual’s wife and accidentally sent it to a staffer in parliament.

“To me that seems a really serious breach, especially when it was documents relating to cybersecurity, as I believe.

“That seems a really serious breach. The cabinet secretary had his say at the time. I doubt he’s changed his mind in the last six days, but that’s a matter for the new prime minister.”

Braverman said she “rapidly reported” her “mistake” through official channels, and informed cabinet secretary Simon Case, as soon as she realised it.

But Berry said: “As I understand it, the evidence was put to her and she accepted the evidence, rather than the other way round.”

Labour has demanded that Case, who is reportedly “livid” over her swift return and “very concerned” about the breach, launch an investigation “into the extent of this and other possible security breaches”.

Keir Starmer has accused Sunak of doing a “grubby deal” to reappoint Braverman as home secretary.

During the brief leadership contest Braverman swung behind Sunak in what was seen as a blow to Boris Johnson’s hopes of staging a comeback to No.10

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5 Biggest Moments From The Day As The UK Gets Its Third PM In Less Than Two Months

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History was made on several accounts on Tuesday, with both Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak breaking records – albeit for very different things.

As the prime minister with the shortest time in office officially left Downing Street while the first British Asian PM took her place, this was a momentous day in politics.

On top of that, there was a dramatic reshuffle, as Sunak seeks to separate himself from the premierships of the last two prime ministers.

Here’s everything you need to know about the day.

1. Liz Truss says farewell

The prime minister with the shortest tenure in UK history said goodbye to Downing Street at 10.15am.

She urged her successor to be “bold” and stick to her tax-cutting agenda, despite the economic chaos it caused and the widespread criticism it evoked.

She offered no apology in her speech and urged Sunak to focus on “growth” by cutting taxes and reducing public spending, maintaining: “I am more convinced than ever we need to be bold and confront the challenges that we face.”

Truss said: “We simply cannot afford to be a low growth country where the government takes up an increasing share of our national wealth and where there are huge divides between different parts of our country.

“We need to take advantage of our Brexit freedoms to do things differently.”

She also tried to champion her policies which the government did not U-turn on, such as assistance with energy bills, and reversing the National Insurance increase.

Liz Truss making her farewell speech on Tuesday morning
Liz Truss making her farewell speech on Tuesday morning

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

2. Sunak meets the King

Shortly after Truss met with the King to resign, her successor filed into Buckingham Palace so he could officially be confirmed as the next prime minister.

This was a historic moment, marking the beginning of the first UK premiership led by a Hindu and British Asian. It’s also only the second time a prime minister from an ethnic minority has taken the country’s reins, too.

At 42, Sunak is also the youngest prime minister in more than 200 years.

King Charles III meeting Sunak in Buckingham Palace
King Charles III meeting Sunak in Buckingham Palace

AARON CHOWN via Getty Images

3. Sunak’s welcome speech

Sunak started his premiership with a bang, by immediately addressing the “mistakes” of his predecessor in a speech before midday.

He said: “Some mistakes were made – not born of ill will, or bad intentions. But mistakes nonetheless.

“And I have been elected as leader of my party and your prime minister in part to fix them.

“And that work begins immediately.”

Sunak also used the opportunity to address former prime minister Boris Johnson’s claim that he was “uniquely” positioned to lead the Tories – despite withdrawing from the race.

The new prime minister said while he was “grateful” to Johnson for his “incredible achievements”, “the mandate my party earned in 2019 is not the sole property of any one individual”.

He suggested that he would continue to work on the goals the Tories set out when they won the general election almost three years ago.

4. An exodus of ministers

Business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg led a wave of resignations from the cabinet. A prominent ally to both Johnson and Truss, he has not spoken favourably of Sunak in the past, declaring him a “socialist” during the Tory leadership election in the summer.

Chair of the Conservative Party Jake Berry, levelling up secretary Simon Clarke, justice secretary Brandon Lewis, education secretary Kit Malthouse and work and pensions secretary Chloe Smith all followed him out the door.

Robert Buckland also stood down as Welsh secretary as did Wendy Morton, the chief whip during Truss’s time in office, environment secretary Ranil Jayawardena and the minister for development Vicky Ford.

Alok Sharma was removed from the cabinet too, but remains as Cop26 president, meaning he will negotiate on the UK’s behalf at Cop27, but won’t attend cabinet or be known as a minister.

Robert Buckland, Wendy Morton and Jacob Rees-Mogg all left cabinet on Tuesday
Robert Buckland, Wendy Morton and Jacob Rees-Mogg all left cabinet on Tuesday

5. A new cabinet emerges

Sunak is under pressure to unite the fractured Conservative Party through his leadership by appointing MPs from all its factions to government positions.

Jeremy Hunt, who replaced Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor after the mini-budget imploded, is remaining at the top of the Treasury.

Sunak’s loyal ally, former deputy PM and former justice secretary Dominic Raab was rewarded, and handed his old two titles again.

Michael Gove returns to cabinet as levelling up secretary, just two months after he said he was quitting frontline politics.

A few more old faces returned to cabinet amid the reshuffle.

Former Welsh secretary Simon Hart has become the new chief whip while James Cleverly is keeping his job as the foreign secretary and Ben Wallace is staying as defence secretary.

Suella Braverman, who resigned as home secretary a week ago over breaching security rules, returns to that same job.

Oliver Dowden has been appointed as the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, while Nadhim Zahawi has been appointed Conservative Party chair.

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Could Boris Johnson Be About To Become Prime Minister For A Second Time?

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Boris Johnson is planning to throw his hat into the ring to succeed Liz Truss as prime minister – just six weeks after he quit 10 Downing Street.

The former PM – who was forced to quit after a wave of resignations sparked by the Chris Pincher scandal – is taking soundings from his supporters before making a final decision.

When he resigned, he described being PM as “the best job in the world”.

He is currently in the Caribbean on holiday, but is preparing to cut it short to fly back to London before making a final decision.

But critics pointed out that he still faces a privileges committee investigation into whether he misled parliament over the partygate scandal, which could potentially see him thrown out of parliament.

Truss resigned earlier today and announced that her successor would be chosen within a week.

Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, has hinted that an online ballot will take place, meaning party members will be given a say on the new PM.

That increases Johnson’s chances, given he is still popular with Conservative activists who remain angry at the way he was ousted by MPs in July.

Bookmakers have already slashed their odds on him being re-elected prime minister, making him second favourite behind Rishi Sunak, the man whose resignation as chancellor helped to bring him down.

Commons leader Penny Mordaunt – who lost out to Truss in the last leadership contest – has already confirmed that she will stand again, while other possible contenders include Kemi Badenoch, Ben Wallace and Suella Braverman.

Several Tory MPs have already given their support to Johnson coming back, including loyalists Nadine Dorries, Michael Fabricant and Andrea Jenkyns.

But health minister Robert Jenrick, who served in Johnson’s cabinet between 2019 and 2021, told the News Agents podcast: “The Boris that I supported when he stood in 2019 was one of the greatest campaigners in modern political history, somebody who was able to galvanise people to win that incredible general election, defeat Jeremy Corbyn, get Brexit done.

“So, there was definitely a case for Boris, and I think I was right to support him in 2019. You could argue that the Conservative Party is in such a difficult place, that his formidable campaigning skills are required once again.

“On the other hand, his premiership came to an end for a reason, which is that there were serious questions about competence, credibility, and ethics and does the Conservative Party want to go back to that?.”

And Tory MP John Baron said: “I believe – rightly or wrongly – he misled parliament on a number of occasions. We have to look forward not back.”

A Labour source told HuffPost UK: “The Tories all droning on about how they need a sensible, serious person to manage the party and deliver stability, then that honking pudding turns up with his travelling circus. Delicious.”

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper called on the Tories to block Johnson’s possible return.

She said: “The fact that Conservative MPs are even considering putting Boris Johnson back in Number 10 shows how out of touch they really are. They think there’s one rule for them and another for everyone else.

“Boris Johnson was forced to resign in disgrace after countless lies, scandals and failures. He shattered public trust in the government and plunged the UK into a political crisis. He must never be allowed near Downing Street again.”

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How Will The Tory Leadership Race To Replace Liz Truss Work?

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Westminster collapsed into chaos on Thursday as Liz Truss announced she was resigning as Tory leader.

Truss lasted just 44 days in office, making her the shortest serving prime minister in history.

The government’s death spiral means there must be another leadership contest to select the next Tory party leader and prime minister.

Just minutes after her resignation, chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady announced the party would hold a contest to replace her within a week.

It follows complaints that the two-month contest to replace Boris Johnson over the summer paralysed government for too long.

Truss’s replacement will become their third leader in just two months. Brady held two brief press conferences on Thursday to explain how they would elect the next PM.

How It Will Work

Brady said the process should be concluded by Friday, October 28.

The hope is that a new prime minister would be in place in time for an important financial statement on October 31.

That crucial statement – on the following Monday – is intended to reassure the City that the government has a plan to repair the nation’s finances.

Truss will remain acting leader of the party until a successor is appointed.

Candidates to replace her will need at least 100 nominations from Conservative MPs – a considerably higher threshold than the start of the last election.

Nominations open Thursday night and will close at 2pm on Monday, October 24. There will be an indicative vote of MPs once there are two candidates.

The first ballot of MPs will then be held between 3.30pm and 5.30pm on Monday 24.

If there are three candidates, the candidate with the fewest number of votes will be eliminated.

The result will be announced at 6pm. If a second indicative vote is needed, this will be held between 6.30pm and 8.30pm on Monday. The result will be announced at 9pm.

Once the parliamentary process is completed, Conservative Campaign Headquarters will begin balloting the party membership – as long as two candidates remain.

The ballot of members will be conducted via secure online voting that will close at 11am on Friday 28 – the result will be announced later that day.

Only qualifying members, who have been a member for at least three months, can vote.

Brady told reporters that hustings for MPs would be held behind closed doors on Monday.

He said: “We’ve fixed a high threshold, but one that can be achievable by any serious candidate.

“We have no knowledge of who those candidates will be at the moment.”

Behind the scenes, Tory MPs have already started the horse trading ahead of the election.

For a run-through of who might throw their hat in the ring, follow our list of runners and riders.

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Yvette Cooper Has The Perfect Response To Suella Braverman’s ‘Tofu-Eating Wokerati’ Rant

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Suella Braverman has faced ridicule from her opposite number after the home secretary sounded off about a “tofu-eating wokerati” and a “coalition of chaos”.

The cabinet minister renewed her attacks on opponents of the Tory party – a habit that has made her a darling of the right – during a Commons debate on the Public Order Bill.

It includes a new offence of obstructing major transport networks, interfering with key national infrastructure – such as railways, roads and printing presses – and new powers for police to stop and search people to seize items intended for so-called locking-on.

Lock-on tactics have been repeatedly employed by groups such as Insulate Britain and Just Stop Oil, and include protesters gluing or otherwise attaching themselves to roads or other areas to cause disruption.

Braverman went on the offensive in light of the Just Stop Oil protest that has seen the Dartford Crossing – the only way to cross the Thames east of London by road – blocked for the second day in a row.

She accused opposition parties of being a “coalition of chaos”, adding: “It’s the Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati, dare I say, the anti-growth coalition that we have to thank for the disruption that we are seeing on our roads today.”

But Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper branded Braverman’s words “astonishing”, adding: “The home secretary actually talked about a coalition of chaos, we can see it in front of us as we speak.”

She continued that she understood government “concerns”.

Cooper said: “When they face issues when they’ve got a selfish minority wreaking havoc, you’ve got someone resisting all attempts to remove them, causing serious disruption, disorder, chaos, with serious consequences for the public, for business, for politics and for financial markets.

“But they’ve glued themselves under the desk. With honourable members opposite, we wish them luck with their attempts to extricate another failing Tory prime minister from Number 10.

“But I suggest it isn’t a reason to change the law for everyone else.”

Cooper was of course referring to Liz Truss and the turmoil caused by her mini-budget, which crashed the financial markets and saw the pound fall to an all-time low.

The backlash led to two major u-turns by chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, before he was eventually sacked and replaced by Jeremy Hunt, who has since torched the low-tax, free-markeeter economic plan Truss staked her leadership bid on.

Truss now faces continued humiliation as a growing number of her MPs want the PM to quit, with one even comparing her premiership to a dumpster fire. She has vowed to fight on.

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Defiant Liz Truss Says She’ll Lead Tories Into Next Election

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Liz Truss has vowed the to lead the Tories into the next general election as she apologised for her “mistakes”.

The prime minister is battling to save her premiership after torching her economic agenda by the dismantling of her former chancellor’s landmark mini-budget.

In an interview with the BBC after new chancellor Jeremy Hunt scaled back the energy support package and ditched “almost all” the tax cuts announced by his predecessor, Truss said she wanted to “accept responsibility and say sorry for the mistakes that have been made”.

“I wanted to act… to help people with their energy bills to deal with the issue of high taxes, but we went too far and too fast. I’ve acknowledged that,” she said.

She said she is “sticking around” because she was “elected to deliver for this country”, adding: “I will lead the Conservatives into the next general election.”

The pressure on the prime minister gained traction on Monday evening with Tories now openly calling for her to go after just six weeks in power.

Asked whether she would lead the Conservatives into the next general election, Truss replied: “I will lead the Conservatives into the next general election.”

When pressed, she added: “Well look, yeah, (laughs) I’m not focused on internal debates within the Conservative Party.

“The important thing is that I’ve been elected to this position to deliver for the country. We are facing very tough times.

“We simply cannot afford to spend our time talking about the Conservative Party, rather than what we need to deliver. That is my message to my colleagues.”

In the interview, she also said: “I do want to accept responsibility and say sorry for the mistakes that have been made. I wanted to act, to help people with their energy bills, to deal with the issue of high taxes, but we went too far and too fast.

“I have acknowledged that. I have put in place a new chancellor with a new strategy to restore economic stability. Now what I am focused on is delivering for the public.”

She added: “I am somebody who is honest, I’ve said that mistakes were made. I’ve also acted to address that, to make sure the country is in a strong position. And that’s what I will continue to do as prime minister.”

Truss is fighting to save her premiership after Hunt warned that “eye-wateringly difficult” decisions were needed as he tore up her economic strategy.

Hunt scaled back the energy support package and ditched “almost all” the tax cuts announced by his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng less than a month ago, as he tried to restore economic stability after weeks of turmoil on the financial markets.

Truss became prime minister after winning the Tory leadership contest on the back of promises to dramatically cut tax, and the wholesale abandonment of the policies has left her fighting for her job after just six weeks.

She sat next to her new chancellor in the Commons, staring straight ahead as he ditched huge chunks of her plan.

After around 30 minutes, she walked out without having said a word.

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Labour Holds Huge 36-Point Poll Lead Amid Tory Turmoil

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The Labour Party has opened up a 36-point poll lead over the Conservatives, according to new research, against the backdrop of the crumbling Tory administration.

A survey by Redfield and Wilton Strategies suggests it is the biggest advantage for any party since October 1997.

The poll has Labour on 56% (up three points since October 13), while the Tories were down four points on 20%, the Liberal Democrats were on 11%, the Green Party on 5%, SNP 4% and Reform 2%.

Including the 19% who did not know which way they would vote, the Labour lead was 31 points, with Keir Starmer’s party on 47% and the Tories on 16%.

The pollster surveyed 2,000 eligible voters in Great Britain on Sunday.

Elsewhere, an Opinium poll published on Sunday projected a landslide general election win for the Labour Party, if voters headed to the ballot box now.

Their victory would be so large it would echo the party’s historic 1997 win.

With more than 10,000 respondents answering the survey between 26 and 30 September – weeks before Truss was forced to sack her chancellor over the chaos – Opinium found the Tories would lose 219 seats in total, leaving it with just 137 seats.

Many high-profile Conservatives would lose their seats, too, including the new chancellor Hunt, levelling up secretary Simon Clarke, business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and health secretary Therese Coffey, among other ministers.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson would also lose his seat, and the Tories would lose their majorities in all 45 out of 45 of its seats in the “red wall” in the north of England.

Meanwhile a separate Deltapoll survey showed Labour was 32-points ahead.

Last month, a YouGov poll showed Labour had surged to an astonishing 33-point lead over the Tories – the first polling analysis to give the party a lead comparable to the late 1990s and Tony Blair sweeping to power.

It comes as Liz Truss is battling to save her premiership after chancellor Jeremy Hunt warned that “eye-wateringly difficult” decisions were needed as he tore up her economic strategy.

Hunt scaled back the energy support package and ditched “almost all” the tax cuts announced by his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng less than a month ago, as he tried to restore economic stability after weeks of turmoil on the financial markets.

Truss became prime minister after winning the Tory leadership contest on the back of promises to dramatically cut tax, and the wholesale abandonment of the policies has left her fighting for her job after just six weeks.

She sat next to her new chancellor in the Commons, staring straight ahead as he ditched huge chunks of her plan.

After around 30 minutes, she walked out without having said a word.

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Liz Truss Stares Into Middle Distance During Bizarre Commons Appearance

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Liz Truss made a fleeting, impassive appearance in the House of Commons as her premiership appeared to crumble around her.

The prime minister had snubbed Labour’s urgent parliamentary question on Truss’s decision to to appoint Jeremy Hunt as the new chancellor – and sent Penny Mordaunt, the Commons speaker, to deputise.

But the move raised more questions about the grip Truss has of her party.

Mordaunt’s initial explanation that the PM was “detained on urgent business” prompted howls of laughter from the Opposition benches, and failed to reassure MPs.

Stella Creasy, a Labour MP, suggested that based on what they had been told, the prime minister is “cowering under her desk and asking for it all to go away”.

Mordaunt, a one-time leadership rival who is viewed as a potential successor, caused more laughter when she replied: “Well, the prime minister is not under a desk.”

Mordaunt added to the confusion by repeatedly suggesting there was “a very good reason” for the prime minister’s no-show – which even led one MP to ask if she was “on the way to the Palace” to tell the King her government is over.

But then Truss finally arrived while Mordaunt was still speaking.

She was there, it turned out, to sit alongside her new chancellor as Hunt was due to spell out the “eye-wateringly difficult” decisions that were needed as he tore up her economic strategy.

But things got even stranger from there. Truss did not contribute to the debate, and many on social media pointed out she appeared only to be staring into the middle distance and blinking frequently.

She sat next to Hunt for around 30 minutes as he ditched huge chunks of “Trussonomics”.

But as soon as Hunt finished his Commons address and took questions from MPs, Truss departed to accusations of “running off to something else”.

So where was she?

One report suggested Truss had been meeting Graham Brady, the chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs, who could hold the key to her future if Conservatives revolt en masse.

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Tory MPs Go Public With Demands Liz Truss Quit As Prime Minister

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Conservative MPs broke cover on Sunday to publicly demand Liz Truss resign as prime minister, as replacements wait in the wings.

Crispin Blunt, the veteran MP for Reigate, told Channel 4′s The Andrew Neil Show that Truss should quit “now” as “the game is up”.

Jamie Wallis, the MP for Bridgend, said “enough is enough”, revealing he had written to Truss to tell her “she no longer holds the confidence of this country”.

Andrew Bridgen, who is known for calling for Tory prime ministers to resign, wrote on his blog: “Liz has sunk her own leadership”.

Behind closed doors, many Tory MPs have already decided Truss needs to be replaced in light of market turmoil and tanking poll ratings.

One backbencher told HuffPost UK before the weekend: “Last week I’d have given her till Christmas. Now I think she’ll be gone by the end of the month.”

While a former minister said: “Things are just too bad now. She has to go.”

The move by some to go public on Sunday indicates the prime minister’s decision to sack Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor and replace him with Jeremy Hunt has not calmed things down.

In broadcast interviews on Sunday morning, Tory MPs stopped short of calling for Truss to resign but effectively put her on notice.

Robert Halfon, the chair of the Commons education committee, told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday the PM had been acting like like a “libertarian jihadist” but said he was not calling for her to quit “at this time”.

In a separate interview with Times Radio, Halfon suggested the PM had “hours or days” to save her job.

Alicia Kearns, the new chair of the Commons foreign affairs committee, told Times Radio it was “a very difficult one” when asked if Truss should remain in office.

“I need to listen to colleagues and speak to colleagues over the coming days. But do we need a fundamental reset? Without question,” she said.

Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, when asked if Tory MPs should install a new leader told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg: “I don’t think we’re there yet.”

But but he added Truss needed to do three things – deliver an economically-credible plan, reshuffle her cabinet and restore trust.

In an interview on the same show, Hunt, the new chancellor, insisted Truss remained “in charge” – despite him having essentially junked her entire mini-Budget.

Truss met with Hunt at Chequers on Sunday to plan the October 31 Budget that will unstitch much of the platform on which she won the leadership.

Hunt is now considered a possible replacement Tory leader and prime minister. Rishi Sunak, who lost out to Truss in the last contest is also seen as a likely candidate, as is cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt and defence secretary Ben Wallace.

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