Conservative MPs have started to publicly call for Liz Truss to go as they do not believe she can survive the current political and economic crisis.
Crispin Blunt, former chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, was the first Tory MP to put his head above the parapet since Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked as chancellor on Friday.
He said “the game is up” for Ms Truss after just six weeks as prime minister as he does not believe she can survive the current crisis, which has seen weeks of economic turmoil after the mini-budget.
“I think the game is up and it’s now a question as to how the succession is managed,” he told Channel 4’s Andrew Neil Show.
He later told Sky News it was “blindingly obvious” that Ms Truss had to go.
“The principle emotions of people watching her, doing her best to present, is some combination of pity, contempt or anger,” he said.
“I’m afraid it just won’t wash and we need to make a change.”
More on Conservatives
Related Topics:
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen also called for Ms Truss to quit as PM, telling the Telegraph that his party “cannot carry on like this” and adding: “Our country, its people and our party deserve better.”
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Jamie Wallis tweeted: “In recent weeks, I have watched as the government has undermined Britain’s economic credibility and fractured our party irreparably. Enough is enough.
Advertisement
“I have written to the prime minister to ask her to stand down as she no longer holds the confidence of this country.”
Asked how the party will get rid of her, Mr Blunt, who is standing down at the next election, said: “If there is such a weight of opinion in the parliamentary party that we have to have a change, then it will be effected.
“Exactly how it is done and exactly under what mechanism… but it will happen.”
Under current Conservative Party rules, a confidence vote in a leader cannot take place until they have been in power for at least a year, so she is theoretically safe until next September.
However, there has been talk among MPs of the powerful 1922 backbench committee of Tory MPs of changing the rules to reduce that buffer period.
If enough MPs submit no confidence letters in the PM, then the 1922 executive may have little choice but to change them.
The committee’s treasurer, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, told Sky News the rules would only be changed if “an overwhelming majority of the party wish us to do that”.
If the committee was satisfied the conditions had been met “then they would agree to change the rules”, he said.
He added, however: “I think we’re a long way off that at the moment.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:53
Can Jeremy Hunt save Liz Truss?
Truss ‘unlikely to be in No 10 at Christmas’
Andrew Mitchell, who ran new chancellor Jeremy Hunt‘s leadership campaign, told the BBC if Ms Truss “cannot do the job, I’m afraid that she will go”.
Former Chancellor George Osborne said Ms Truss is unlikely to still be in Downing Street by Christmas.
He called her a “PINO – prime minister in name only” and said Ms Truss is “hiding in Number 10” as pressure mounts.
Asked if she can survive, he told the Andrew Neil Show: “Probably not.”
Image: Former Tory chancellor George Osborne said he does not think Liz Truss will be PM by Christmas
And Mark Garnier, Conservative MP for Wyre Forest, today questioned Ms Truss’s position but stayed clear of outright calling for her to go.
He said those who agree with her appointing Mr Hunt as chancellor are split into two camps – those who believe MPs should give Ms Truss time, and those who want to “rip the plaster off”.
“I think power is a very fickle thing, and I think Liz Truss is in office but is not in power,” he told BBC Politics Midlands.
“The question is, do we give her a chance or do we rip the plaster off?
“The really important question is do we feel confident that we should be going into the next general election with Liz Truss? If we don’t, I think we need to rip the plaster off.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
15:47
‘Govt is behind Liz Truss’
Party needs a fundamental reset
Alicia Kearns, the new chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, said the party needed a “fundamental reset” but said it was difficult to know if Ms Truss should go.
“Ultimately it is a very difficult one because I think you know we’ve had the questions around our moral competency,” she told Times Radio.
“We’ve now got questions around our fiscal competency.
“I don’t want further questions around even our ability to continue to govern as a party and our ability to stay united. It’s an incredibly difficult one, and ultimately I need to listen to colleagues and speak to colleagues over coming days.
“But do we need a fundamental reset? Without question.”
Tory grandee and pollster Lord Hayward told Sky News it is going to be “very difficult” for Ms Truss to remain as PM after the past few weeks and a new chancellor after just 38 days.
On Sunday morning, both Mr Hunt and Andrew Griffith, financial secretary to the Treasury, said they think Ms Truss will remain as they showed their loyalty to the PM.
The daughter of a Post Office victim has told Sky News she suffered “dark thoughts of suicide” in the years after her mother was accused of stealing.
Kate Burrows was 14 years old when her mother, Elaine Hood, was prosecuted and subsequently convicted in 2003.
The first public inquiry report on the Post Office – examining redress and the “human impact” of the scandal – is due to be published today.
“I’ve suffered with panic attacks from about 14, 15 years old, and I still have them to this day,” Kate said.
“I’ve been in and out of therapy for what feels like most of my adult life and it absolutely categorically goes back to [what happened].”
Image: Kate and Rebecca with their mother, Elaine
Kate, along with others, helped set up the charity Lost Chances, supporting the children of Post Office victims. She hopes the inquiry will recognise their suffering.
“It’s important that our voices are heard,” she said. “Not only within the report, but in law actually.
More on Post Office Scandal
Related Topics:
“And then maybe that would be a deterrent for any future cover-ups, that it’s not just the one person it’s the whole family [affected].”
Her sister, Rebecca Richards, who was 18 when their mother was accused, described how an eating disorder “escalated” after what happened.
“When my mum was going through everything, my only control of that situation was what food I put in my body,” she said.
Image: Elaine with her husband
She also said that seeing her mother at court when she was convicted, would “stay with me forever”.
“The two investigators were sat in front of my dad and I, sniggering and saying ‘we’ve got this one’.
“To watch my mum in the docks handcuffed to a guard… not knowing if she was going to be coming home… that is the most standout memory for me.”
The sisters are hoping the inquiry findings will push Fujitsu into fulfilling a promise they made nearly a year ago – to try and help the children of victims.
Image: The siblings were teenagers when their mum was unfairly prosecuted
Last summer, Kate met with the European boss of the company, Paul Patterson, who said he would look at ways they could support Lost Chances.
Despite appearing at the inquiry in November last year and saying he would not “stay silent” on the issue, Kate said there has been little movement in terms of support.
“It’s very much a line of ‘we’re going to wait until the end of the inquiry report to decide’,” she said.
“But Mr Patterson met us in person, looked us in the eye, and we shared the most deeply personal stories and he said we will do something… they need to make a difference.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:38
2024: Paula Vennells breaks down in tears
Fujitsu, who developed the faulty Horizon software, has said it is in discussions with the government regarding a contribution to compensation.
The inquiry will delve in detail into redress schemes, of which four exist, three controlled by the government and one by the Post Office.
Victims of the scandal say they are hoping Sir Wyn Williams, chair of the inquiry, will recommend that the government and the Post Office are removed from the redress schemes as thousands still wait for full and fair redress.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said they were “grateful” for the inquiry’s work, describing “the immeasurable suffering” victims endured and saying the government has “quadrupled the total amount paid to affected postmasters”, with more than £1bn having now been paid to thousands of claimants.
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
Sophisticated drones sending “overwhelming amounts” of drugs and weapons into prisons represent a threat to national security, according to an annual inspection report by the prisons watchdog.
HMP chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor has warned criminal gangs are targeting jails and making huge profits selling contraband to a “vulnerable and bored” prison population.
The watchdog boss reiterated his concerns about drones making regular deliveries to two Category A jails, HMP Long Lartin and HMP Manchester, which hold “the most dangerous men in the country”, including terrorists.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
2:28
Ex-convict: Prison is ‘birthing bigger criminals’
Mr Taylor said “the police and prison service have in effect ceded the airspace” above these two high-security prisons, which he said was compromising the “safety of staff, prisoners, and ultimately that of the public”.
“The possibility now whereby we’re seeing packages of up to 10kg brought in by serious organised crime means that in some prisons there is now a menu of drugs available,” he said. “Anything from steroids to cannabis, to things like spice and cocaine.”
“Drone technology is moving fast… there is a level of risk that’s posed by drones that I think is different from what we’ve seen in the past,” warned the chief inspector – who also said there’s a “theoretical risk” that a prisoner could escape by being carried out of a jail by a drone.
He urged the prison service to “get a grip” of the issue, stating: “We’d like to see the government, security services, coming together, using technology, using intelligence, so that this risk doesn’t materialise.”
Image: The report highlights disrepair at prisons around the country
The report makes clear that physical security – such as netting, windows and CCTV – is “inadequate” in some jails, including Manchester, with “inexperienced staff” being “manipulated”.
Mr Taylor said there are “basic” measures which could help prevent the use of drones, such as mowing the lawn, “so we don’t get packages disguised as things like astro turf”.
Responding to the report, the Prison Advice and Care Trust (PACT) said: “The ready access to drugs is deeply worrying and is undermining efforts to create places of rehabilitation.”
Mr Taylor’s report found that overcrowding continues to be what he described as a “major issue”, with increasing levels of violence against staff and between prisoners, combined with a lack of purposeful activity.
Some 20% of adult men responding to prisoner surveys said they felt unsafe at the time of the inspection, increasing to 30% in the high security estate.
Andrea Coomber, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “This report is a checklist for all the reasons the government must prioritise reducing prison numbers, urgently.
“Sentencing reform is essential, and sensible steps to reduce the prison population would save lives.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
0:51
May: Male prison capacity running at 99%
The report comes after the government pledged to accept most of the recommendations proposed in the independent review of sentencing policy, with the aim of freeing up around 9,500 spaces.
Those measures won’t come into effect until spring 2026.
Prisons Minister Lord Timpson said Mr Taylor’s findings show “the scale of the crisis” the government “inherited”, with “prisons dangerously full, rife with drugs and violence”.
He said: “After just 500 prison places added in 14 years, we’re building 14,000 extra – with 2,400 already delivered – and reforming sentencing to ensure we never run out of space again.
“We’re also investing £40m to bolster security, alongside stepping up cooperation with police to combat drones and stop the contraband which fuels violence behind bars.”
The daughter of a Post Office victim has told Sky News she suffered “dark thoughts of suicide” in the years after her mother was accused of stealing.
Kate Burrows was 14 years old when her mother, Elaine Hood, was prosecuted and subsequently convicted in 2003.
The first public inquiry report on the Post Office – examining redress and the “human impact” of the scandal – is due to be published today.
“I’ve suffered with panic attacks from about 14, 15 years old, and I still have them to this day,” Kate said.
“I’ve been in and out of therapy for what feels like most of my adult life and it absolutely categorically goes back to [what happened].”
Image: Kate and Rebecca with their mother, Elaine
Kate, along with others, helped set up the charity Lost Chances, supporting the children of Post Office victims. She hopes the inquiry will recognise their suffering.
“It’s important that our voices are heard,” she said. “Not only within the report, but in law actually.
More on Post Office Scandal
Related Topics:
“And then maybe that would be a deterrent for any future cover-ups, that it’s not just the one person it’s the whole family [affected].”
Her sister, Rebecca Richards, who was 18 when their mother was accused, described how an eating disorder “escalated” after what happened.
“When my mum was going through everything, my only control of that situation was what food I put in my body,” she said.
Image: Elaine with her husband
She also said that seeing her mother at court when she was convicted, would “stay with me forever”.
“The two investigators were sat in front of my dad and I, sniggering and saying ‘we’ve got this one’.
“To watch my mum in the docks handcuffed to a guard… not knowing if she was going to be coming home… that is the most standout memory for me.”
The sisters are hoping the inquiry findings will push Fujitsu into fulfilling a promise they made nearly a year ago – to try and help the children of victims.
Image: The siblings were teenagers when their mum was unfairly prosecuted
Last summer, Kate met with the European boss of the company, Paul Patterson, who said he would look at ways they could support Lost Chances.
Despite appearing at the inquiry in November last year and saying he would not “stay silent” on the issue, Kate said there has been little movement in terms of support.
“It’s very much a line of ‘we’re going to wait until the end of the inquiry report to decide’,” she said.
“But Mr Patterson met us in person, looked us in the eye, and we shared the most deeply personal stories and he said we will do something… they need to make a difference.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
1:38
2024: Paula Vennells breaks down in tears
Fujitsu, who developed the faulty Horizon software, has said it is in discussions with the government regarding a contribution to compensation.
The inquiry will delve in detail into redress schemes, of which four exist, three controlled by the government and one by the Post Office.
Victims of the scandal say they are hoping Sir Wyn Williams, chair of the inquiry, will recommend that the government and the Post Office are removed from the redress schemes as thousands still wait for full and fair redress.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said they were “grateful” for the inquiry’s work, describing “the immeasurable suffering” victims endured and saying the government has “quadrupled the total amount paid to affected postmasters”, with more than £1bn having now been paid to thousands of claimants.
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