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Prime Minister Liz Truss described herself on Wednesday as “a fighter, not a quitter” as she faces a hostile opposition from her own Conservative Party and criticism of her botched economic plan anger.
However, the grim faces of Conservative MPs in the House of Commons behind her suggest that Truss faces an uphill battle to save her job.
Truss attended her first Prime Minister’s questioning session since newly appointed Treasurer Jeremy Hunt tore up the tax cuts unveiled by her new government less than a month ago.
She apologised to parliament and admitted she had made mistakes during her brief tenure as head of government, but insisted that by changing course, she had “taken responsibility and made the right decision for the country’s economic stability”.
Opposition MPs chanted “Resign!” as she said.
Opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer asked: “Why is she still here?” Truss retorted: “I’m a fighter, not a quitter. I’ve acted in the national interest, to ensure our economic stability.”
The unfunded package of tax cuts announced by the Truss government on September 23 has sparked turmoil in financial markets, battering the value of the pound and increasing the UK government’s borrowing costs.bank U.K. Forced to intervene to prevent the crisis from spreading to the wider economy and putting pension funds at risk.
Under intense political and economic pressure, Truss sacked her ally Kwasi Kwarteng as finance minister last week, replacing him with cabinet veteran Hunt. On Monday, Hunter rescinded almost all of Trus’ tax cuts, as well as her flagship energy policy and a pledge not to cut public spending. He said the government would need to save billions of pounds and “many tough decisions” to be made before he sets out his medium-term fiscal plan on October 31.
Official data released on Wednesday showed that the United Kingdom inflation It rose to 10.1 percent in September, returning to a 40-year high first touched in July, as soaring food costs squeezed household budgets.While inflation is high around the world – by the Russian invasion Ukraine and its impact on energy supplies – polls show that most Britons blame the government for the country’s economic pain.
Opponents also accuse the Conservative government of sowing chaos by changing policy. On Wednesday, Truss assured retirees that pensions would continue to rise with inflation – less than 24 hours after her spokeswoman said the government was considering scrapping the costly commitment as it seeks to cut public spending.
With opinion polls showing a growing Labour lead, many Conservatives now believe their only hope of avoiding the election being forgotten is to replace Truss. But she insisted she would not step down, and lawmakers were divided on how to get rid of her.
New foreign secretary James Cleverley urged the Conservatives to give Truss another chance, saying “mistakes have been made”.
“What you have to do is recognize when they happen and be humble enough to make changes when you see things aren’t going well,” he said.
Later on Wednesday, Truss faced another test in parliament when lawmakers voted on a Labour motion to ban fracking in shale gas — a policy that Truss recently approved .
The Conservative whip said the vote would be considered a “motion of confidence in the government”, meaning if the motion passed, the government would collapse, triggering an election. A Conservative majority of more than 70 makes that unlikely, but the vote will be closely watched for signs of dissent against Truss leadership.
Truss’ press secretary said the prime minister “did not resign” and that the mood was “firm”.
National elections will not be held until 2024. Truss appeared to rule out an early election on Wednesday, saying: “It’s important that we work together…to get through this winter and protect the economy.”
Truss is exempt from a leadership challenge for a year under Conservative rules, but the rules can be changed if enough lawmakers want to. There has been intense speculation about how many lawmakers have submitted letters calling for a vote of no confidence.
Some Conservative MPs believe Truss could be forced to resign if the party agrees to a successor.
So far, there is no front runner.Truss beats Tory leader rival Rishi SunakHouse of Commons leader Penny Mordault and popular Defence Secretary Ben Wallace have supporters, as does Hunter, who is already seen by many as the de facto prime minister.
Some even favour the return of Boris Johnson, who was ousted this summer after a moral scandal.
Cleverley said he understood why colleagues were angry, but said it was the wrong thing to do “in defense of another prime minister”.
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