Liz Truss has TWO WEEKS to get Tories to back plans or risks rebellion

2022-10-01

Liz Truss has just TWO WEEKS to convince Tories to back her tax-cutting plans or she risks a rebellion in the Commons, MPs warn

Tories warned Liz Truss she has just two weeks to get them to back her tax cuts
Some backbenchers considering voting down parts of Finance Bill to block plans
Ex-minister said Truss is ‘finished’ with ‘lots’ of letters calling for confidence vote
Even allies of the PM say Government must improve how it communicates policy

Tory MPs warned Liz Truss last night she had just two weeks to convince them to back her tax-cutting plans, or she risked a Commons rebellion.

Backbenchers enraged by plans to cut taxes for the highest earners but impose a real-terms cut on benefits say No 10 has left the public feeling ‘frightened instead of reassured’.

Even allies who want the Prime Minister to stick to her guns insist the Government must improve how it communicates economic policy.

Tory MPs warned Liz Truss last night she had just two weeks to convince them to back her tax-cutting plans, or she risked a Commons rebellion

One MP said Truss is ‘finished’ but that angry MPs are not wholly blaming Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget last week

Some Tories are considering voting down parts of the Finance Bill to block the abolition of the top 45p rate of income tax.

One backbencher said: ‘They’ve got two weeks to sell it to us… I don’t think we’re at the stage yet of Truss having her first rebellion four weeks into her premiership – but it is not far off.

‘She has got to play the next few weeks a lot cleverer and No 10 has got to be a lot cleverer and be a lot more inclusive than they have in the first few weeks. This is a problem of their own making.’

A former minister said Miss Truss was ‘finished’ and that ‘lots’ of letters calling for a confidence vote in the PM had been submitted – even though she cannot face a vote for a year.

Sir Charles Walker, a former chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, said the plans had been ‘executed so utterly poorly’

But the MP said angry MPs were not wholly blaming Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget last week.

‘People are not that upset with the Budget as most of it is support for energy and NI (national insurance) reversal. We are angry because they are s**t, did not roll the pitch and cannot communicate the strategy, so public feel frightened instead of reassured.’

Sir Charles Walker, a former chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, said the plans had been ‘executed so utterly poorly’.

But Downing Street remained defiant, with a source saying: ‘We’ve got an 80-seat majority and we’ve done nothing with it. We have an opportunity now to push through reforms to things that have been holding Britain back for years. If not now, when?’

Yesterday, levelling-up minister Simon Clarke said Miss Truss had been ‘astonishingly resilient’ during an ‘uncomfortable week’

Ministers are reviewing a commitment made by Boris Johnson to increase benefits in line with inflation next year, meaning claimants could have their payments squeezed in real terms.

Miss Truss refused to be drawn yesterday on the question of how much benefits would increase.

Yesterday, levelling-up minister Simon Clarke said Miss Truss had been ‘astonishingly resilient’ during an ‘uncomfortable week’, telling The Times: ‘She is doing what she believes is right. Her conscience is clear.’

Source: Read Full Article