British lawmakers will try to oust Prime Minister Liz Truss this week despite Downing Street’s warning that it could trigger a general election, the Daily Mail reported on Monday (17 October).
More than 100 members of parliament (MPs) belonging to the governing Conservative Party are ready to submit letters of no confidence in Truss to Graham Brady, the head of the Conservative Party’s committee which organises the leadership contest, the tabloid reported, quoting unnamed sources.
Britain, engulfed in a political crisis, has lost three prime ministers since it voted to leave the European Union in 2016.
The MPs will urge Brady to tell Truss that “her time is up” or to change the political party rules to allow an immediate vote of confidence in her leadership, the report said.
Graham is said to be resisting the move, arguing that the Truss, along with newly appointed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, deserve a chance to set out economic strategy in a budget on 31 October, the report added.
Separately, The Times reported that some lawmakers have held secret discussions on replacing Truss with a new leader.
Truss, who won the Conservative Party leadership last month after promising to slash taxes, is fighting for her political survival after ditching key parts of the programme.
The chaos has fuelled discontent in the party, which is falling behind the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls.
New tax and spending measures
New British finance minister Jeremy Hunt will announce tax and spending measures on Monday, two weeks earlier than previously scheduled, the finance ministry said as Hunt tries to turn around a loss of confidence in the government’s fiscal plans.
“The Chancellor will make a statement later today, bringing forward measures from the Medium-Term Fiscal Plan that will support fiscal sustainability,” the Treasury said.
Hunt promised to win back Britain’s economic credibility by fully accounting for the government’s tax and spending plans, while insisting his boss Liz Truss remained in charge of the country.
Truss appointed Hunt on Friday in an attempt to rescue her leadership as confidence in her ability to run the country drained away within both her own Conservative Party and international financial markets.
Investors have sold British government bonds heavily since 23 September when Hunt’s predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, announced a string of unfunded tax cuts without publishing a set of independent economic forecasts.
The knock-on effects forced the Bank of England into an emergency intervention to protect pension funds and drove up mortgage costs – adding to the squeeze on Britons’ finances.
Britain’s economy is at risk of going into recession at the same time as the central bank is raising interest rates to control soaring inflation. Bank Governor Andrew Bailey said on Saturday he thought a big rate hike would be needed in early November.
Truss – who became Conservative Party leader just 41 days ago after promising to slash taxes – fired Kwarteng on Friday and has ditched key parts of the programme they agreed together.
The chaos has fuelled discontent in the governing party, already splintered before Friday and falling far behind the opposition Labour Party in opinion polls.
(Edited by Georgi Gotev)
