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In power for just 28 days – and for 10 of them politics was paused following the death of the Queen – it has been the worst possible start for Liz Truss.

A (mini) budget unveiling £45bn of tax cuts without a fiscal framework, precipitating a £65bn emergency bond buying programme by the Bank of England to protect pension funds.

The pound tanked, 1,000 mortgage deals were withdrawn from the markets in anticipation of an interest rates spike.

And then a prime minister who was not the lady for turning, has announced a huge policy U-turn.

So the question for the new prime minister was really a question of leadership – and judgement.

How bad is it and, crucially, can Liz Truss win back control?

She never had emphatic backing from the parliamentary party anyway – Rishi Sunak was initially their first choice.

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Can she reassert authority after only 28 days? Is this already a prime minister in office, but not in power?

A tough set of questions after a brutal couple of weeks, this is a prime minister determined to march on.

Her message: These are difficult times and we are delivering.

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Is Liz Truss trusted?

She batted away questions and ploughed on with her messages about making tough decisions and delivering the package of energy support for households and businesses.

As for the U-turn, the PM insisted that there was “absolutely no shame” in performing a reversal of her plan to abolish the 45p top rate of tax and she had listened to her party and the public.

A performance that, for her supporters, showed a politician with huge resilience and drive.

A PM clear-eyed about what she has to do for the economy. But for detractors, this is a leader in denial – deluded even – about the challenges she faces, with her party and the public too.

As she ploughs on, there are mutterings all around that she has lost control of her party and this will hamstring her agenda.

The U-turn on the 45p rate, the battleground now moving to the uprating of benefits.

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Do the public and cabinet still trust Truss?

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Liz Truss says she has ‘absolutely no shame’ in U-turn on cutting 45p tax

One senior figure joked to me on Monday night that this was a PM with dozens of former cabinet ministers on the backbenches, and agitating.

As one member of the emerging “rebel alliance” put it to me: “The PM doesn’t have a mandate for much of what she wants to do but what she does have is a group of MPs prepared to manage her from without cabinet rather than within.”

So, a prime minister who is not in control of events and a Conservative Party in disarray.

There is no message of discipline from within her cabinet, with different ministers sharing opposing views on lifting benefits by earnings rather than inflation.

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Meanwhile, Home Secretary Suella Braverman is taking a shot at the rebels and accusing them of staging a coup over the 45p rate.

As for the leader, Ms Truss has to try to get a grip on her party, and her speech on Wednesday will be a moment for the new PM to try and get some momentum behind her.

But even one of her supporters said the PM has a matter of months to turn this around and close the gap in the polls.

For now, this Conservative government is looking like it will hand the keys to power over to Labour in the next general election.

If it stays that way, Ms Truss’s tumultuous start will only get worse.

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Pakistan ‘attacked with missiles’ – as India says it targeted terrorist camps

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Pakistan 'attacked with missiles' - as India says it targeted terrorist camps

Pakistan says it has been targeted in a missile attack by India.

Three missiles were fired by India across the border into Pakistani-controlled territory, said Pakistani security officials.

They hit locations in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in the country’s eastern Punjab province, according to officials.

The Indian defence ministry said it had launched Operation Sindoor as it struck “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir “from where terrorist attacks against India have been planned and directed”.

It said a total of nine sites were targeted.

A Pakistan military spokesman said the country will respond to the attacks.

Tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours have been escalating following a militant gun attack in the disputed area of Kashmir last month.

At least 26 people, most of whom were Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen at a beauty spot near the resort town of Pahalgam in the Indian-controlled part of the region on 22 April.

India described the massacre as a “terror attack” and said it had “cross border” links, blaming Pakistan for backing it.

Pakistan denied any connection to the atrocity, which was claimed by a previously unknown militant group called the Kashmir Resistance.

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24 April: Pakistani minister warns ‘all-out war’ possible

Since the attack, Pakistan’s military has been on high alert after a cabinet minister said Islamabad had credible intelligence indicating that India could attack.

And Pakistan’s defence minister Khawaja Asif told Sky News’ The World With Yalda Hakim that the world should be “worried” about the prospect of a full-scale conflict involving the two nations.

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Friedrich Merz becomes Germany’s new chancellor after surviving historic vote failure

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Friedrich Merz becomes Germany's new chancellor after surviving historic vote failure

Friedrich Merz has become Germany’s new chancellor after winning a second vote in the country’s parliament.

He unexpectedly failed in the first parliamentary ballot on Tuesday morning – the first time a chancellor has failed to be elected at the first attempt since the Second World War.

Initially, needing a majority of 316 out of 630 votes in a secret ballot, he received 310 – falling short by just six votes. On the second ballot he managed 325.

It means Mr Merz, the leader of the country’s CDU/CSU conservatives, has become the 10th chancellor since the end of the Second World War.

Friedrich Merz during his swearing in ceremony. Pic: Reuters
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Friedrich Merz during his swearing in ceremony. Pic: Reuters

He had been expected to win comfortably after securing a coalition deal with the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).

It meant at least 18 coalition MPs failed to back him in the first round of voting.

Announcing the second vote, Jens Spahn, the head of the Union bloc in parliament, said: “The whole of Europe, perhaps even the whole world, is watching this second round of elections.”

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Earlier, the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Alice Weidel, said on X that Mr Merz’s failure to secure a majority in the first round showed the “weak foundation” on which his coalition was built, adding that it had been “voted out by the voters”.

Mr Merz, 69, succeeds Olaf Scholz and has vowed to prioritise European unity and the continent’s security.

Germany's incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz shakes hands with outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Pic Reuters
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Mr Merz (R) shakes hands with outgoing chancellor Olaf Scholz (L). Pic: Reuters

His in-tray includes the Ukraine war and global tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy sent congratulations to Mr Merz and wished him “every success”.

The Ukrainian president added that the future of Europe was “at stake” and security will “depend on our unity”.

Mr Merz will also have to decide what to do about the AfD, which mainstream parties have refused to work with.

A “firewall” against collaborating with strongly right-wing parties has been in place since the end of the war.

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During federal elections in late February, the AfD scored its best-ever result while Olaf Scholz’s SPD dropped to about 16%.

The AfD is the second largest party in the lower house of the Bundestag and was officially designated as extremist last week by Germany’s domestic spy agency.

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Conclave writer says debate over women priests will be ‘big issue’ for new pope

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Conclave writer says debate over women priests will be 'big issue' for new pope

The writer of Conclave has said he believes the role of women in the Catholic Church will be a “big issue” for the next pope.

Robert Harris, whose papal novel became a hit film, said the approach of Francis‘s successor would be crucial and was a “profoundly political moment for the world”.

Speaking on The News Hour with Mark Austin, he said he had been struck by how the gospels’ teachings, such as the “necessity to get rid of all worldly wealth”, appeared at odds with the grandeur associated with the papacy.

“When I compared that to the reality of the Vatican, it’s hard not to be struck by the contrast,” he said.

“And in particular, in the 21st century, can it really be the case that Christ did not intend half the world’s population to play a full role in spreading his word?”

“I don’t see how this cannot be the issue facing the church over the next few years,” Harris added.

“The Jewish faith has female rabbis, the Anglicans have female bishops; can it really be the case that Roman Catholics cannot allow the ordination of women?

“Maybe they won’t – but I cannot help but believe it will be a big issue,” said Harris.

Catholicism does not allow women to become priests – a principle confirmed by Pope John Paul II in 1994 when he said the church had “no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women”.

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How is a new pope chosen?

Harris said he had deliberately included the pivotal character of Sister Agnes in his story to “give some voice to these women” – who otherwise are shown looking after the cardinals during the film.

The secretive process to elect a new pope begins for real in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday when 133 cardinals begin the first round of voting amid tight security.

All eyes will be on the lookout for the white smoke that signals they have reached a decision.

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"Conclave" (2024)
Sergio Castellitto stars as Cardinal Tedesco in director Edward Berger's "Conclave" (2024), a Focus Features release. Photo credit: Focus Features.

2024
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Harris’s book dramatising the conclave was made into a successful film. Pic Rex Features

The author, a former political journalist, told Sky News his research for the book included speaking to a cardinal who had taken part in the conclave.

He said the protocols portrayed by the likes of Ralph Fiennes in the movie were all true to life and set out by the Vatican.

However, he added: “I’m dramatising something, trying to make it entertaining, so I doubt whether the conclave will be so full of skulduggery as the novel and film.”

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Vatican chimney installed ahead of conclave

Read more:
Who could be the next pope?

How accurate is the film Conclave?
Speculation and excitement as conclave about to begin
How exactly does conclave work?

Harris said the election of the new pope – which requires a two-thirds majority – made it a political as well as spiritual exercise for the cardinals.

He agreed the battle is likely to be between traditionalist cardinals and those who want to continue Francis’s more informal, progressive approach.

The Sistine Chapel ahead of the conclave to elect the next pope at the Vatican.
Pic: Vatican Media/ Reuters
Image:
The cardinals will take their seats in the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday. Pic: Vatican Media/Reuters

Harris said the first South American pope “put a lot of noses out of joint in the grander bureaucracy of the church”.

“Francis really laid down a marker to the old guard,” he told Sky News.

“He didn’t move into the papal apartments, he refused the elaborate papal cars – he wanted a little ordinary car to go around in; he used to dine in the cafeteria at nights with the nuns who run the Casa Santa Marta.”

If Francis’s successor reverts to convention and moves back into the Apostolic Palace, Harris said it would be an “indication of the direction the new pope will take the church”.

View of the "Room of Tears", a small room next to the Sistine Chapel where the newly elected Pope will don the white papal vestments for the first time.
Pic: Vatican Media/Reuters
Image:
The ‘Room of Tears’ where the new pope will don the white vestments for the first time. Pic: Vatican Media/Reuters

Among the favourites to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is Luis Tagle, a cardinal who could become the first Asian pope, and who has been likened to Pope Francis.

Two Italians are also seen as strong contenders: The Archbishop of Bologna, Matteo Zuppi, and the so-called “deputy pope” Pietro Parolin.

Harris said whatever approach the new pontiff takes – whether a liberal interpretation or more conservative – would have a real impact on some of today’s most contentious issues, such as assisted dying for example.

“These crucial political decisions are greatly affected by the Roman Catholic Church,” said Harris.

“The church is an immensely wealthy, powerful institution that reaches into all areas of society, whether you’re Catholic or not. So this is a profoundly political moment for the world.”

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