Truss battling to stay in power after sacking her chancellor and U-turning on tax pledge
The prime minister is fighting for her political survival after ditching a major chunk of the mini-budget and sacking her chancellor and close ally Kwasi Kwarteng.
But it is unclear whether Liz Truss’s gamble to stay in power will pay off, with financial markets remaining jittery and reports of a number of Tory MPs plotting to replace her.
After a tumultuous three weeks for the financial markets in the wake of Mr Kwarteng’s £45bn mini-budget tax giveaway, the PM acknowledged that “the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change”.
She replaced her “great friend” Mr Kwarteng” with former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt, who backed her rival Rishi Sunak in the Tory leadership contest.
While his appointment was welcomed by some Tory MPs as “an experienced pair of hands”, others questioned why Mr Kwarteng was the one who had to go when he was pursuing policies Ms Truss espoused in her leadership campaign.
Liz Truss appoints Jeremy Hunt as chancellor. Pic: Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
Politics latest: Tory MPs turn on Truss as PM scrambles to save job
At a hastily-arranged news conference in Downing Street on Friday, Ms Truss dismissed calls for her resignation, saying she was “absolutely determined to see through what I have promised”.
She announced she was abandoning Mr Kwarteng’s commitment to drop the planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25%, saving the Exchequer £18bn a year.
She also suggested a new squeeze on public spending which would “grow less rapidly than previously planned”.
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Do voters have confidence in Truss?
Ms Truss said it was a “down payment” on the medium-term fiscal plan on 31 October, when Mr Hunt will now set out how he intends to get the public finances back on track. It suggests further measures to plug the estimated £60bn void created by the mini-budget will have to follow.
“It is clear that parts of our mini-budget went further and faster than markets were expecting, so the way we are delivering our mission right now has to change,” she said.
“We will do whatever is necessary to ensure debt is falling as a share of the economy in the medium-term.”
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Voters’ response to her U-turn appeared reasonably favourable, with a snap poll by YouGov finding 49% of voters said Ms Truss was right to sack her chancellor.
Cabinet ministers also remained publicly loyal, tweeting their support for Ms Truss and her new chancellor.
But other Conservatives appeared to be divided over Ms Truss’s future as prime minister.
Heated messages were shared in Conservative Party WhatsApp groups after her news conference, with a screenshot sent to Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates showing Crispin Blunt calling for Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt to take over.
“Step forward Rishi and Penny, with our support and encouragement in the interests of us all,” it read.
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Kwarteng sacked after 38 days
There have also been multiple reports of Tory MPs and Conservative grandees plotting moves to force Ms Truss from Downing Street.
A source apparently close to Mr Kwarteng suggested that Ms Truss may only have bought herself a few more weeks in office, according to The Times.
Former leader Lord Hague warned that Ms Truss’s premiership “hangs by a thread”, while Conservative former chancellor Lord Hammond said the events of the past weeks had wrecked the party’s reputation for fiscal discipline.
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During her news conference Ms Truss said she was “incredibly sorry” to lose Mr Kwarteng but insisted Mr Hunt shared her vision of a “high-growth, low-tax economy”.
But Mr Hunt’s appointment signals a major shift in policy direction – he is a more centrist figure than either Mr Kwarteng or Ms Truss and is unlikely to share their ideological free market commitment to tax cuts.
In July, Mr Hunt told Sky News cutting corporation tax was “not sexy, but necessary” as he backed plans to reverse the planned rises.
:: The new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, will be speaking to Sky News from 7am today
A workman saved a seven-year-old boy from a burning car in the aftermath of a deadly crash caused by a suicidal ex-pilot, an inquest has heard.
The schoolboy’s rescue came following the collision on the M6, which killed former RAF man Richard Woods and four others, in October last year.
Last week a coroner ruled that Woods, 40, took his own life by deliberately driving his Skoda the wrong way down the motorway while drunk and hitting a Toyota Yaris head-on.
The driver of the Toyota, Jaroslaw Rossa, 42, was also killed, along with his two sons, Filip, 15, and Dominic, seven, and his partner Jade McEnroe, 33.
Cockermouth Coroner’s Court heard on Thursday that Ms McEnroe’s son was also in the car but survived after workman Gavin Walsh came to his rescue at the scene, which was near Tebay services in Cumbria.
In a statement to the inquest, Mr Walsh said he was a passenger in a transit van travelling to Scotland when he witnessed the crash.
He jumped out of the vehicle and used a jack to smash the rear windscreen of the Toyota and pulled the boy out of the burning vehicle.
Mr Walsh said: “We really did try, I can assure everyone we did our best. We only had minimal time.
“I saved a life that day and I hope never to witness anything like that again.”
He added that he has never stopped thinking about the boy, and said: “I hope we will meet again one day and I will give you a massive hug.”
At the time, the family were returning to Glasgow from a trip to Legoland in Windsor, Berkshire.
The inquest heard that Wood, who was travelling at a speed of at least 65mph, would have been charged with manslaughter had he survived.
Recording conclusions of unlawful killing, Cumbria assistant coroner Margaret Taylor said: “I found that Jaroslaw, Jade, Filip and Dominic died as a consequence of the unlawful acts of another driver.”
The inquest heard how Mr Woods, from Cambridgeshire, had served a distinguished 14-year career in the RAF and was a flight instructor for BAE Systems at the time of his death.
Jade McEnroe. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Dominic and Filip. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
In Ms Taylor’s record of inquest, Mr Woods was said to have been experiencing “a number of stressors in his life” and had a “history of harmful use of alcohol”.
Following the crash, he was found to be nearly four times over the legal drink-drive limit and a two-thirds empty bottle of gin was found in his car.
On the day of his death, concerns had been raised over his behaviour at a work conference near Preston in Lancashire.
Mr Woods failed to return to his seat after lunch and was later spotted driving erratically and swerving across three northbound carriageway lanes on the M6.
After pulling onto the hard shoulder, he then proceeded to U-turn and drove southward on lane three.
Filip, Dominic and Jaroslaw Rossa. Pic: Cumbria Constabulary
Detective Sergeant Deborah Story, from Cumbria Police, told the inquest that Mr Woods would have been prosecuted on four counts of manslaughter had he lived.
She said hypothetical charges of murder were considered by detectives but not thought appropriate because of a lack of information that Mr Woods knew the family or anything that provided a link between them.
Ms McEnroe’s parents, Marie McEnroe and George McNellis, told the coroner they thought it was “murder”.
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A statement from the mother of Filip and Dominic, and the ex-wife of Mr Rossa, Kamila, was read out at the inquest.
She said Mr Rossa, known as Jarek, was born in Poland where they became a couple and went on to have three boys.
He loved playing computer games and had “lots of friends”, she said, and worked at the Wagamama restaurant in Silverburn, Glasgow.
She said she was “devastated” over the deaths, adding: “Our lives will never be the same.
“I am heartbroken at the passing of my beloved angels Filip and Dominic.”
Marie McEnroe said her daughter, a spa therapist, had been in a relationship with Mr Rossa for about two-and-a-half years.
She said Jade had been a “brilliant mother” to her only child, was “really happy” with Mr Rossa and it was “lovely chaos” when all the boys were playing together.
Ms McEnroe added: “Life changed forever that day”.
Ms Taylor praised the “selfless acts of bravery” from those in the aftermath of the collision, including Mr Walsh, who she said went towards the burning car “without hesitation for his own safety”.
The coroner added: “Without his swift response, Jade’s child would also have perished.”
Addressing the bereaved family members, she said: “Your loss is unimaginable but you have conducted yourself with dignity and I thank you for that. I wish you strength for the future.”
Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.
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