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Liz Truss is set to face a wretched week at the Tory Party conference after the disastrous reaction to Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax-cutting mini-budget.

The prime minister arrived in Birmingham on Saturday looking buoyant just hours before yet another injurious poll was released.

Hopes to be greeted by an adoring host of members have likely been dashed as some Tory MPs have questioned whether she will still be PM by the end of the year.

Nearly two dozen senior Conservative MPs have told Sky News they will not be attending after a tumultuous week that saw the pound hit a record low against the dollar and the Bank of England stepping in to prevent a pension funds collapse.

Ms Truss and her chancellor have doubled down in defending the £45bn of unfunded tax cuts that caused the economic turmoil, insisting it is necessary for growth.

The PM on Saturday said “rough decisions” were needed to boost growth and told the Sunday Telegraph she wants to “bring people with me on this journey”, insisting the “status quo isn’t an option”.

There are concerns the situation could get worse if the Bank of England is forced to hike interest rates to shore up the currency and keep inflation down.

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A series of polls taken this week have shown a massive drop in popularity for the Tories and a record high for Labour following the mini-budget.

The latest poll from Opinium showed 55% of voters disapprove of both Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng while Labour enjoyed a 19-point boost.

And 75% of all voters think they have lost control of the economy. When it comes to Tory voters, 71% think they do not have the economy under control versus just 24% who believe they do.

Many of Ms Truss’ own MPs have been talking out against her economic plan and Tory grandee Michael Gove, who backed Rishi Sunak, is expected to demand the party changes course during eight official appearances at the conference.

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Truss arrives at Tory conference

Senior backbenchers told The Independent the PM has a matter of days to row back on tax and welfare cuts or a rebellion could see her removed from Downing Street by Christmas.

There are reports of letters going in to the chair of the backbench 1922 Committee from MPs calling for a vote of no confidence.

Under current rules she is safe from a leadership challenge for a year after her election but the 1922 executive could change the rules if demand from Tory MPs is overwhelming.

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News on Saturday that Mr Kwarteng held a champagne reception with hedge fund managers just hours after the mini-budget was met with incredulity.

A source close to the chancellor denied he had provided guests with privileged information and said: “The government’s ambitions on lowering the tax burden are hardly a state secret.”

Truss needs to reset if she is to survive


Sam Coates

Sam Coates

Deputy political editor

@SamCoatesSky

Liz Truss starts her first Conservative Party conference less than a month – 25 days – since becoming leader, all the more notable given 11 of those days were spent in official mourning for the death of the Queen.

Also notable in that time is that the government spent upwards of £160 billion, Sterling collapsed to the lowest level since 1985, UK is now at threat of downgrade by credit rating agencies, swathes of cheaper mortgages have disappeared from the market, the Bank of England has done an emergency intervention to save pension funds and the Tories have recorded their worst opinion poll rating for YouGov since the company was founded in the late 90s.

Everybody – Tory MPs, institutions, voters looking at the economic turmoil to come – is anxious.

Ms Truss’s most important job is to show the county and her party whose side she is on.

Which is why the story tonight from the Sunday Times about her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is so damaging.

On the day of the mini-budget, where he cut taxes for the richest, he went to a hedge fund party hosted by Andrew Law, Tory donor. 30 donors and financiers were there as he went round the top.

I’ve spoken to someone who has been at events such as these recently. They are amazed at just how casual Kwarteng is about spraying bold, potentially market moving views around such events, on topics such as the governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey.

Some in the City worry such talk undermines the credibility of the UK’s independent financial institutions, after the watchdog OBR and Treasury expertise already came in the firing line. Careless talk costs credibility.

Another difficult moment, one of just many.

Many Tories think Liz Truss now needs to reset with her party this week to survive.

‘The worst is yet to come’

Opposition parties used the opening of the Conservative conference to hit out at the Tories, with the SNP saying the worst is yet to come.

The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: “It’s been a disastrous first few weeks of her premiership but if the rhetoric from the Tories is to be believed, the worst of this Truss government is yet to come.”

His comments came after a key ally of Ms Truss’, Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke, signalled ministers are looking to shrink the overall size of the state alongside falling tax cuts.

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Truss acknowledges ‘some disruption’

And Sir Keir Starmer said it was “unacceptable” voters nor MPs had had any say on the new economic measures announced.

“The economy is not a laboratory experiment for the maddest scientists of the Conservative Party,” the Labour leader wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.

“The pain about to be inflicted on the whole country is the result of a prime minister and a chancellor wedded to a disastrous ideology.”

The conference will open today with a tribute to the Queen but it is Mr Kwarteng’s speech on Monday and Ms Truss’ closing speech on Wednesday that will command the political attention.

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Donald Trump confirms Mexico and Canada tariffs – prompting a stock sell-off

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Donald Trump confirms Mexico and Canada tariffs - prompting a stock sell-off

Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada have come into effect, as has an additional 10% on Chinese products, bringing the total import tax to 20%.

The US president confirmed the tariffs in a speech at the White House – and his announcement sent US and European stocks down sharply.

The tariffs will be felt heavily by US companies which have factories in Canada and Mexico, such as carmakers.

Mr Trump said: “They’re going to have a tariff. So what they have to do is build their car plants, frankly, and other things in the United States, in which case they have no tariffs.”

There’s “no room left” for a deal that would see the tariffs shelved if fentanyl flowing into the US is curbed by its neighbours, he added.

Mexico and Canada face tariffs of 25%, with 10% for Canadian energy, the Trump administration confirmed.

And tariffs on Chinese imports have doubled, raising them from 10% to 20%.

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Canada announced it would retaliate immediately, imposing 25% tariffs on US imports worth C$30bn (£16.3bn). It added the tariffs would be extended in 21 days to cover more US goods entering the country if the US did not lift its sanctions against Canada.

China also vowed to retaliate and reiterated its stance that the Trump administration was trying to “shift the blame” and
“bully” Beijing over fentanyl flows.

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What is America’s trade position?

Mr Trump’s speech stoked fears of a trade war in North America, prompting a financial market sell-off.

Stock market indexes the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq Composite fell by 1.48% and 2.64% respectively on Monday.

The share prices for automobile companies including General Motors, which has significant truck production in Mexico, Automaker and Ford also fell.

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Consumers in the US could see price hikes within days, an expert has said.

Gustavo Flores-Macias, a public policy professor at Cornell University, New York, said “the automobile sector, in particular, is likely to see considerable negative consequences”.

This is due to supply chains that “crisscross the three countries in the manufacturing process” and ” because of the expected increase in the price of vehicles, which can dampen demand,” he added.

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The Trump administration is gearing up to bring in other tariffs in the coming weeks.

On 2 April, reciprocal tariffs will take effect on all countries that impose duties on US products.

He is also considering 25% tariffs on goods from the EU “very soon” after claiming the bloc was created to “screw the United States”.

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More than 30 killed in Bolivia bus crash – second deadly collision within days

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More than 30 killed in Bolivia bus crash - second deadly collision within days

A truck has collided with a bus in southern Bolivia, killing at least 31 people, according to police – just two days after a deadly crash claimed at least 37 lives.

Officers said the bus rolled some 500m (1,640ft) down a ravine after the collision on Monday, which took place on the highway between Oruro, in the Bolivian Altiplano, and the highland mining city of Potosi.

The driver of the truck has been arrested, while the cause of the accident is under investigation.

Police spokesperson Limbert Choque said men and women were among the dead, and 22 people suffered injuries.

** on right of picture are bodies ** First responders work at the site after a crash between a vehicle and a bus along a highway in Lenas, Potosi, southern Bolivia, March 3, 2025, in this handout image obtained from social media. Bolivia's Attorney General/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. MANDATORY CREDIT
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Rescue teams operating at the site of the crash. Pic: Bolivia’s attorney general/Reuters

Bolivia’s President, Luis Arce, expressed condolences for the victims on social media: “This unfortunate event must be investigated to establish responsibilities,” he said in a post on Facebook.

“We send our most sincere condolences to the bereaved families, wishing them the necessary strength to face these difficult times.”

Map showing location of collision, which took place on the highway between Oruro, in the Bolivian Altiplano, and the highland mining city of Potosi.
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The crash happened between Oruro and Potosi

On Saturday morning, a crash between two buses killed more than three dozen people in the same region.

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It happened between Colchani and the city of Uyuni, a major tourist attraction and the world’s largest salt flat.

People stand near the wreckage of one of the two buses involved in the crash.
Pic: Reuters/Potosi Departmental Command
Image:
People stand near the wreckage of one of the two buses involved in a crash on Saturday. Pic: Reuters/Potosi Departmental Command

Coincidentally, one of the buses was heading to Oruro, where one of the most important carnival celebrations in Latin America is currently taking place.

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More than 30 people were also killed after a bus crash on 17 February.

In that crash, police said the driver appeared to have lost control of the vehicle, causing it to drop more than 800m (2,600ft) off a precipice in the southwestern area of Yocalla.

Bolivia’s mountainous, undermaintained and poorly supervised roads are some of the deadliest in the world, claiming an average 1,400 fatalities every year.

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The Pope has had ‘two episodes of acute respiratory failure’, Vatican says

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The Pope has had 'two episodes of acute respiratory failure', Vatican says

The Pope has had two episodes of “acute respiratory failure”, the Vatican has said.

The 88-year-old has been in hospital since 14 February with a severe respiratory infection that triggered other complications.

The Vatican said the respiratory failures were caused by “significant accumulation” of mucus in his lungs and a “bronchospasm”, akin to an asthma attack.

Doctors were then required to perform two bronchoscopies – a test which sees medics use a long, thin, telescope with a light to look into the lungs – to evaluate the Pope’s air passages, the statement said.

“In the afternoon, non-invasive mechanical ventilation was resumed,” the Vatican continued. “The Holy Father has always remained vigilant, oriented and collaborative. The prognosis remains reserved.”

Vatican sources said the situation had been calm this morning, before becoming worse this afternoon.

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Behind the scenes at the Vatican

The respiratory issues the Pope suffered today are due to an ongoing infection rather than a new one but he is not out of danger, they added.

Asked if the Pope is in good spirits, they gave no answer. When asked if the Vatican’s apartment is getting ready to welcome Francis back, the source said it was too premature to discuss this.

His clinical picture remains complex, they said.

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Earlier on Monday, Pope Francis issued a written message after Vatican officials begged him to let his voice be heard following more than two weeks out of public view.

He thanked his doctors for their care and well-wishers for their prayers, before praying for peace in Ukraine and elsewhere.

“From here, war appears even more absurd,” he wrote.

Catholic faithful attend a nightly rosary prayer for the health of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
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People at a nightly rosary prayer for the Pope in St. Peter’s Square yesterday evening. Pic: AP

This has become the longest public absence of his 12-year papacy.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski presided over the evening rosary prayer in St Peter’s Square on Sunday night.

“Let us pray together with the entire church for the health of the Holy Father Francis,” he said.

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