Liz Truss’s month of mayhem: From bumpy rides to Balmoral to bumpier battles in Birmingham
The plane flying Liz Truss to meet the Queen at Balmoral for her appointment as prime minister a month ago was hit by turbulence in bad weather and struggled to land at Aberdeen airport.
The aircraft’s helpless circling in mid-air was seen at the time as a bad omen for her premiership.
And after a month of mayhem for the new PM, perhaps it was indeed a warning of trouble ahead.
Politics live: Truss takes aim at ‘anti-growth coalition’ in pivotal speech
In the month since Ms Truss was confirmed as Tory leader, her leadership has faced the death and mourning of the Queen, a bungled budget, markets chaos, U-turns, polls suggesting a Labour landslide and a backbench “coup” against her.
Her response, in a fighting and defiant speech at the end of a fractious and chaotic Tory conference in Birmingham, was to declare: “Whenever there is change, there is disruption. And not everyone will be in favour of change.”
Let’s take a look at the key dates in this rocky start in Number 10.
Monday 5 September
Much has changed dramatically since Ms Truss defeated Rishi Sunak for the Conservative crown by 57.4% to 42.6% – a comfortable margin, but slimmer than in other recent Tory leadership elections.
In her victory speech at London’s Queen Elizabeth II conference centre, she described the contest as “one of the longest job interviews in history”.
She praised her predecessor, Boris Johnson, and said: “You got Brexit done. You crushed Jeremy Corbyn. You rolled out the vaccine and you stood up to Vladimir Putin.”
Tuesday 6 September
Safely back from stormy Balmoral, Ms Truss strode up Downing Street with her slightly bemused looking husband Hugh O’Leary and told the nation: “Together we can ride out the storm.”
But the political – and economic – storm, already becoming perilous for the new PM because of soaring energy prices, was only just beginning.
The PM and her husband Hugh O’Leary arrive in Downing Street as her premiership begins
Although her swift cabinet reshuffle contained few surprises and her appointments had been widely predicted, it was a brutal purge of those ministers who had backed her leadership rival, Mr Sunak.
Into the top jobs came her most loyal allies and backers: Therese Coffey, Kwasi Kwarteng, James Cleverly, Suella Braverman, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Nadhim Zahawi and Brandon Lewis.
Banished to the backbenches were Michael Gove, Grant Shapps, Sajid Javid and many more, in a cull that began to backfire badly at this week’s Tory conference, when Mr Gove and Mr Shapps led the mutiny on the 45p tax cut.
Wednesday 7 September
In an eagerly awaited first Prime Minister’s Questions for the new premier, Ms Truss put in a sound performance and delighted Tory backbenchers with her counter-attacks against Sir Keir Starmer.
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Truss told the Commons during her first PMQs that she wants to keep taxation low
When the Labour leader demanded a windfall tax on energy giants to fund her plans to help families pay soaring energy bills, she gave her now familiar answer: “We cannot tax our way to growth.”
Thursday 8 September
The pivotal moment in the PM’s month of mayhem came when she was passed a note by Cabinet Office Minister Nadhim Zahawi as she delivered her Commons statement on her £150bn package to freeze energy bills.
The news in the note – that the Queen was gravely ill just two days after Ms Truss had been to see her at Balmoral to be appointed prime minister – stunned Westminster and put politics into suspension for 11 days.
After the announcement of the Queen’s death at 6.30pm, the new PM appeared in Downing Street in a black dress and, with her voice quivering with emotion, paid a solemn tribute to the monarch.
The PM delivers delivers a speech after the death of the Queen
The Queen was “the rock on which modern Britain was built”, she said, and her death was a huge shock to the country and the world.
She said the Queen’s sense of duty had been a personal inspiration to her and many other Britons, adding: “She was the very spirit of Great Britain and that spirit will endure.”
9 to 19 September
With the nation still reeling from the shock of the Queen’s death, the PM led two days of tributes in Parliament, telling MPs: “In the hours since last night’s shocking news, we have witnessed the most heartfelt outpouring of grief at the loss of her late majesty the Queen.
“Crowds have gathered, flags have been lowered to half-mast, tributes have been sent from every continent around the world.”
And after King Charles’ accession to the throne the following day, Ms Truss travelled to Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff as the new King attended cathedral services to honour his late mother’s life.
King Charles III and the prime minister during their first audience
She attended her first formal audience with the new King, a meeting where it has been claimed she advised him not to attend the COP27 climate change summit in Egypt next month – a claim dismissed as “ridiculous” by 10 Downing Street.
At the Queen’s funeral she read a lesson from St John’s gospel. But as she arrived at Westminster Abbey with her husband, she would have been unaware that two Australian broadcasters commentating on the funeral mistook her for a “minor royal”.
20 and 21 September
After the Queen’s funeral, Ms Truss made a whirlwind visit to the United Nations General Assembly – a regular date in the September calendar for prime ministers, but a stern test for one only in office for two weeks.
As a newcomer, she had a middle-of-the-night graveyard slot in the speeches and at her first face-to-face meeting with Joe Biden was confronted by the US president on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
“We are both committed to protecting the Good Friday Agreement of Northern Ireland and I’m looking forward to hearing what’s on your mind,” he challenged her pointedly.
Friday 23 September
Back in London, the PM sat alongside her “dynamic new chancellor”, as she called him in her conference speech, Kwasi Kwarteng, as he delivered his delayed “growth plan”.
In a clumsy remark at the Tory conference, he appeared to blame the Queen’s death for the furore it provoked.
“Literally four days after the funeral, we had the mini-budget,” he said. “It was a high-speed, high pressure environment.”
The growth plan was a disaster.
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Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announces tax cuts for 31 million people
Mr Kwarteng’s £45bn tax-cutting package for the rich sent the pound crashing to its lowest level against the dollar in 37 years. He announced more than £400bn of extra borrowing over the coming years to fund the biggest giveaway since Anthony Barber’s ill-fated 1972 budget.
He scrapped the 45% rate of income tax paid by those earning more than £150,000 a year, abolished the cap on bankers’ bonuses, reversed the rise in National Insurance contributions and brought forward by a year the reduction in the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19%, pencilled in by Mr Sunak for 2024.
The respected Paul Johnson of the Institute for Fiscal Studies reacted: “The chancellor announced the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years without even a semblance of an effort to make the public finance numbers add up.
“Instead, the plan seems to be to borrow large sums at increasingly expensive rates, put government debt on an unsustainable rising path and hope that we get better growth. Mr Kwarteng is not just gambling on a new strategy, he is betting the house.”
The Daily Mail cooed: “At last! A true Tory budget.” But the generally Tory-supporting Economist said the government’s reckless incompetence may have already damaged it beyond repair.
Monday 26 September
After Mr Kwarteng said in a TV interview there were more tax cuts to come, the pound plunged even further.
The turmoil was a gift to Labour, enjoying a largely successful conference in Liverpool.
Thursday 29 September
But if the run on the pound was bad, worse was to come. The Bank of England was forced to calm the bond market with a £65bn bailout after a surge in gilt yields threatened to wipe out many pension funds.
At the same time, a YouGov opinion poll gave Labour a massive 33-point lead over the Conservatives, suggesting a vote share of 54% for Sir Keir’s party and just 21% for the Tories.
Sir Keir Starmer had a successful Labour conference in Liverpool. Pic: AP
It was the biggest Labour lead since Tony Blair’s honeymoon period in the months after his 1997 general election landslide.
The current Labour leader called for the recall of parliament to address the financial crisis. He urged the government to abandon the mini-budget measures which triggered the market turmoil and said the PM was a “danger” to the economy and has lost control.
Sunday 2 October
As the Tory conference opened in Birmingham, Ms Truss was accused of “throwing Mr Kwarteng under a bus” over the 45% tax fiasco and distancing herself from it when she said in an interview: “It was a decision that the chancellor made.”
As a backbench mutiny reached dangerous levels, with some leading backbenchers even claiming the PM could be ousted within weeks, she performed a humiliating late-night U-turn which was revealed to bemused and shell-shocked cabinet ministers in the early hours of Monday morning.
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Asked repeatedly whether or not her chancellor has her trust, Ms Truss chooses to avoid answering directly
After Mr Kwarteng confirmed his embarrassing retreat at 7.30am, in what looked like another snub the PM was asked three times if she trusted her chancellor but failed to declare her support for him.
Later, a sweating Mr Kwarteng gave an unconvincing conference speech, which was described as more trite than contrite.
Tuesday 4 October
As she came to the end of her first month as PM, Ms Truss’s decision to sack so many heavy hitters was coming back to bite her as the Tory conference descended into a bitter civil war.
After Michael Gove launched a series of highly targeted attacks against the cut to the 45p tax rate, the spurned Grant Shapps declared that she may have as little as 10 days to salvage her premiership and the next few days were the “critical period” for her to turn things around.
Michael Gove made his views clear during the Tory conference
Nadine Dorries, previously an enthusiastic Truss supporter, accused her of tearing up the Tory manifesto and called for a general election. Then Priti Patel accused the government of “spending today with no thought for tomorrow”.
But even worse, the bickering spread to inside the cabinet, with Leader of the Commons Penny Mordaunt backing those demanding the bigger benefit increase, then Welsh Secretary Robert Buckland weighing in too.
Amid the open warfare, the new Home Secretary Suella Braverman had accused rebels of mounting a “coup” against the PM on the 45% tax cut, an attack that inflamed the dissent on the backbenches.
Wednesday 5 October
In a combative fightback Ms Truss took to the stage on the final day of conference and declared war on an “anti-growth coalition”.
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Truss tells the conference in Birmingham: ‘There will be disruption – and not everyone will like it’
Thursday 6 October
Ms Truss is beginning her second month as prime minister flying to Prague for a meeting with European leaders to galvanise the response to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
And unlike her bumpy journey to Balmoral a month ago, she’ll be hoping for a smooth, turbulence-free flight this time, and no more omens of another month of mayhem.
The Women’s Euros begin in Switzerland today – with extreme heat warnings in place.
Security measures have had to be relaxed by UEFA for the opening matches so fans can bring in water bottles.
Temperatures could be about 30C (86F) when the Swiss hosts open their campaign against Norway in Basel this evening.
Players have already seen the impact of heatwaves this summer at the men’s Club World Cup in the US.
The Spain squad pauses for refreshments during a training session. Pic: AP
Read more: A complete guide to the Women’s Euros
It is raising new concerns in the global players’ union about whether the stars of the sport are being protected in hot and humid conditions.
FIFPRO has asked FIFA to allow cooling breaks every 15 minutes rather than just in the 30th minute of each half.
There’s also a request for half-time to be extended from 15 to 20 minutes to help lower the core temperature of players.
FIFPRO’s medical director, Dr Vincent Gouttebarge, said: “There are some very challenging weather conditions that we anticipated a couple of weeks ago already, that was already communicated to FIFA.
“And I think the past few weeks were confirmation of all worries that the heat conditions will play a negative role for the performance and the health of the players.”
Football has seemed focused on players and fans baking in the Middle East – but scorching summers in Europe and the US are becoming increasingly problematic for sport.
England are the tournament’s defending champions. Pic: AP
While climate change is a factor, the issue is not new and at the 1994 World Cup, players were steaming as temperatures rose in the US.
There is now more awareness of the need for mitigation measures among players and their international union.
FIFPRO feels football officials weren’t responsive when it asked for kick-off times to be moved from the fierce afternoon heat in the US for the first 32-team Club World Cup.
FIFA has to balance the needs of fans and broadcasters with welfare, with no desire to load all the matches in the same evening time slots.
Electric storms have also seen six games stopped, including a two-hour pause during a Chelsea game at the weekend.
This is the dress rehearsal for the World Cup next summer, which is mostly in the US.
Players are also feeling the heat at the Club World Cup. Pic: AP
The use of more indoor, air conditioned stadiums should help.
There is no prospect of moving the World Cup to winter, as Qatar had to do in 2022.
And looking further ahead to this time in 2030, there will be World Cup matches in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The temperatures this week have been hitting 40C (104F) in some host cities.
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Wildfires erupt in Italy and France amid heatwave
FIFA said in a statement to Sky News: “Heat conditions are a serious topic that affect football globally.
“At the FCWC some significant and progressive measures are being taken to protect the players from the heat. For instance, cooling breaks were implemented in 31 out of 54 matches so far.
“Discussions on how to deal with heat conditions need to take place collectively and FIFA stands ready to facilitate this dialogue, including through the Task Force on Player Welfare, and to receive constructive input from all stakeholders on how to further enhance heat management.
“In all of this, the protection of players must be at the centre.”
England are looking to defend their title at the 2025 Women’s Euros.
But conquering this year’s competition will be tricky right from the group stages.
The Lionesses will come up against Wales, who made history by qualifying for their first major tournament, and two other European heavyweights: France and the Netherlands.
As the tournament kicks off, extreme temperatures have raised questions about whether players are being protected in hot and humid conditions.
Here is everything you need to know about Euro 2025.
Where is Euro 2025 being held?
This year’s Women’s Euros is being held in Switzerland.
The competition kicks off on Wednesday 2 July, with the final on Sunday 27 July.
Matches will be held in eight venues across Switzerland from Zurich to Geneva, with the final game being played in Basel.
What teams have qualified?
A total of 16 teams have qualified for the competition.
Eight teams progressed directly from the qualifying league stage and seven teams qualified via the play-offs.
As hosts, Switzerland qualified automatically.
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Is it too hot for football?
The teams playing in the tournament are:
• England
• Belgium
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Iceland
• Italy
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Sweden
• Spain
• Switzerland
• Wales
How much do the winners get?
This year, the total available prize money for the tournament stands at €41m (£34m) – more than doubling from the prize pot in 2022.
All competing sides receive a €1.8m (£1.5m) participation fee, with the remaining money going to the quarter-finalists, semi-finalists, runners-up and winners.
The maximum prize money achievable for the tournament winners, if they also win their three group stage matches, is €5.1m (£4.3m).
England celebrate their victory at Women’s Euro 2022. Pic: Reuters
Who has (and hasn’t) made the England squad?
Some notable names will be missing from the England squad this year.
Goalkeeper Mary Earps announced in May that she is retiring from international football with immediate effect.
Within days, two other names, Fran Kirby and Millie Bright, also announced they would not be taking part in Euro 2025.
The departure of Bright, Earps and Kirby is a loss of three experienced players – between them they have 218 international appearances.
So who has manager Sarina Wiegman picked for the 23-person squad, and who has been snubbed?
Use our slider below to look through some of the key players, or see a list of the full England squad, here.
History-making Wales squad announced
The Welsh women’s national football team has qualified for an international tournament for the first time.
Their 23-player squad was announced by head coach Rhian Wilkinson at the summit of Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) on Thursday morning.
Rhian Wilkinson following the squad announcement at the summit of Yr Wyddfa. Pic: PA
Midfielder Angharad James captains the side, and is one of four players to have played over 100 times alongside fellow Wales veterans Jess Fishlock, Hayley Ladd and Sophie Ingle, who also made the cut.
Ingle hasn’t featured for club or country since suffering an ACL injury during a pre-season friendly for Chelsea last September.
The 33-year-old returned to full training at the beginning of the month and her inclusion comes as a significant boost ahead of Wales’ first major tournament.
Fishlock, Wales’ record appearance holder and goalscorer, will hope to add to her 47 international goals as she leads the line.
The side beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1 in a play-off match to secure their spot in the Euros.
Wales have qualified for an international tournament for the first time. Pic: Reuters
Wales head coach Rhian Wilkinson said after the match: “This team found a way. They never broke for each other, they stayed strong. I’ve never been prouder of a team.
“This team stands on the shoulders of giants [the pioneering female footballers] who came before, and now they’ve proven how good they are.”
Welsh women’s manager Rhian Wilkinson. Pic: Reuters
What are the Euro 2025 groups?
Similarly to the World Cup, teams in the Euros are split into four groups.
The top two teams in each group will progress to the knockout stage, where games will be decided by extra-time and penalties if needed.
The knockout stage pits the winners of the group against the runners-up, meaning Germany, Poland, Denmark or Sweden could lie in wait for England and Wales in the last eight.
Group A: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Finland
Group B: Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Italy
Group C: Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden
Group D: France, England, Wales, Netherlands
When are England and Wales playing?
The Lionesses start their bid for the Euros title on 5 July when they take on France. The game will take place in Zurich at 8pm UK time.
Wales kick off their campaign earlier the same day, against the Netherlands. That game starts at 5pm UK time in Lucerne.
The two nations will be the last teams in Group D to face each other.
Their showdown will be held in the city of St Gallen, on Sunday 13 July. Kick-off is at 8pm UK time.
Can England win the Euros again?
The Lionesses lifted the Euros trophy in front of a home crowd in 2022, after beating Germany 2-1.
Chloe Kelly delivered the deciding goal in extra time, but can the team do it all again?
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Can England win the Euros again?
Lucy Bronze admitted to Sky News that the team faces “one of the hardest” groups going into the tournament, but added: “We know on any given day, when we play at our best we can beat any team in the world.”
The right-back said: “We have got one of the most talented squads going into the Euros… I wouldn’t want to be a defender on the other team going against some of our players.
“We know it is going to be difficult, there are maybe a handful of teams that are capable of winning it, and we are definitely one of them.”
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‘Handful of teams could win the Euros – we’re one’
After naming her squad in May, Weigman told Sky News sports correspondent Rob Harris: “This group is a very well-balanced mix of players with multiple tournaments on their CVs and also those that will make their tournament debuts.
“I am excited to see what we are capable of this summer.”
How to watch the Euros 2025
Eevery single match of the Women’s Euros will be shown across the BBC and ITV, with the two broadcasters showing half of the 31 matches each, except the final, which will be shown on both channels.
Every match will also be screened live at three venues across London and Birmingham.
TOCA Social at The O2 and Westfield White City in London and The Bullring in Birmingham is hosting watch parties for fans hoping to catch all the action.
A flight in Australia was delayed for two hours after a stowaway snake was found in the plane’s cargo hold.
The reptile was found as passengers were boarding Virgin Australia Flight VA337 at Melbourne Airport bound for Brisbane.
Snake catcher Mark Pelley said he thought it could be venomous when he approached it in the darkened hold.
The snake in the cargo hold. Pics: Mark Pelley
But it turned out to be a harmless 60cm green tree snake.
“It wasn’t until after I caught the snake that I realised that it wasn’t venomous. Until that point, it looked very dangerous to me,” Mr Pelley said.
He said when he entered the cargo hold, the snake was half hidden behind a panel and he feared it could flee deeper into the plane.
“I had one chance to grab it, and if it escaped past me it would have gone into the panels, and then that would have been extremely hard to catch,” he told Sky News.
“Snakes are very fast-moving, thin and agile,” he added.
Mr Pelley said he told an aircraft engineer and airline staff they would have to evacuate the aircraft if the snake disappeared inside the plane.
“I said to them if I don’t get this in one shot, it’s going to sneak through the panels and you’re going to have to evacuate the plane because at that stage I did not know what kind of snake it was,” he explained in a separate interview.
“But thankfully, I got it on the first try and captured it,” he added. “If I didn’t get it that first time, the engineers and I would be pulling apart a [Boeing] 737 looking for a snake still right now.”
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Mr Pelley said because the snake is native to the Brisbane region he suspects it came on board inside a passenger’s luggage and escaped.
“It’s actually very uncommon for snakes to be on the plane,” he told Sky News.
For quarantine reasons the snake cannot be returned to the wild.
The animal, a protected species, has been given to a Melbourne vet to find a home with a licensed snake keeper.
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