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Liz Truss is facing a fresh battle with Conservative MPs over a potential benefits squeeze and cuts to public spending, after already being forced into making a policy U-turn.

The prime minister is under pressure to set out whether benefit payments will be uprated in line with inflation, or if they will face a real-term cut.

It is understood that Downing Street is considering increasing Universal Credit using a lower metric, such as the increase in average earnings, instead.

Politics live: Major U-turn after prominent Tories speak out

While an official decision on benefit payments has still not been made, Welfare Secretary Chloe Smith said one “will be taken in due course”.

Senior Tories have called on the PM to row back on cutting public spending in the middle of the cost of living crisis, with concerns that failing to keep pace with rising prices would leave some of the poorest households worse off.

It comes as the government dramatically dropped its plans to abolish the 45% tax rate on earnings over £150,000 following widespread criticism.

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The policy was announced during the mini-budget near the end of September, which plunged UK markets into turmoil.

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Pound up after tax U-turn

What are MPs saying?

Speaking to Sky News, Conservative MP Damian Green said: “The government should uprate in line with inflation. The previous government said it was going to, so people are expecting this.”

Asked if cuts to benefits are the next battle, he replied: “Well, I hope not because I hope the government has clearly started listening.”

Former transport secretary Grant Shapps is also among the senior Tories calling for the government to be transparent about its plans.

Grant Shapps speaking to the media ahead of the Conservative Party annual conference at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham. Picture date: Monday October 3, 2022.
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Grant Shapps said the government must communicate clearly with the public

Asked if he would want to see benefits increased in line with inflation, he said: “Of course, every politician would want to see that.

“If there is a case whereby we are going to be going through difficult times, then the government must communicate that and be honest with people and explain how and what needs to happen next.”

Former home secretary Priti Patel is set to take aim over the government’s unfunded tax cuts, telling the Conservative Party it will “live or die” by its economic credibility.

According to The Times, she is expected to accuse the PM and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng of “spending today with no thought of tomorrow” and will call on Ms Truss to put a “ceiling” on public spending.

Read more:
First part of Truss’ reign is over – is there any way back from 45p tax rate U-turn?

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Is there any way back for Kwarteng?

‘Action was needed urgently’

Despite the discontent within the Conservative Party, Liz Truss has pushed forward with her economic policy, saying the UK must have “the courage of its convictions to put our nation on the path to success”.

Writing in the Telegraph, the prime minister said the struggling economy was a global problem caused by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and COVID and that there was “no time to waste”.

“Action was needed urgently. People forget the counterfactual of what would have happened had we not acted,” she wrote.

Read more:
Has the government lost credibility?
Truss sticks by plan but admits mistakes
‘What a day!’ – Chancellor admits ‘tough time’

While she dismissed the U-turn on the 45p tax rate cut as a “tiny part of the plan”, reports in The Sun said that the Chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady went to see her at 7pm on Sunday evening.

The PM was then said to have met Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng for crisis talks, hours before she ditched the tax promise on Monday morning.

Monday was a tumultuous day for the party, with Mr Kwarteng’s keynote conference speech altered at the last minute to acknowledge the U-turn.

Hours after his speech, it was revealed Mr Kwarteng will bring forward his medium-term financial statement from 23 November to this month, despite saying he would not earlier in the day.

Markets bounced back on Monday morning, but financial commentators cautioned that it was likely some respite only.

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‘We have a plan and we need to deliver it’

What will be happening at the Tory Conference today?

The Conservatives will be hoping for a quiet day on Tuesday ahead of Liz Truss’ speech on Wednesday.

In his first speech as foreign secretary, James Cleverly is expected to focus on the UK helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia.

He will also talk about finding a “mutually beneficial solution” to Brexit issues in Northern Ireland.

New Home Secretary Suella Braverman will also speak on Tuesday, setting out her plans to “redouble efforts to crack down on illegal migration”.

Education Secretary Kit Malthouse, Health Secretary and Deputy PM Therese Coffey, Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Justice Secretary Brandon Lewis will also address the conference in Birmingham.

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Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield quits Labour – criticising Sir Keir Starmer in resignation letter

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Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield quits Labour - criticising Sir Keir Starmer in resignation letter

Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.

The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.

She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.

In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.

“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.

Rosie Duffield. Pic: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via Reuters
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Rosie Duffield. Pic: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via Reuters

Sir Keir has faced backlash after a Sky News report revealed he had received substantially more freebies than any other MP since becoming Labour leader.

Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.

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Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.

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The Westminster Accounts:
Check how much your MP has received

She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.

“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.

“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”

Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.

Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.

“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.

Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.

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King Charles hails ‘uniquely special’ Scotland as it marks Holyrood milestone – before being hugged by woman

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King Charles hails 'uniquely special' Scotland as it marks Holyrood milestone - before being hugged by woman

The King has paid tribute to Scotland as a “uniquely special place” for the Royal Family as he marked the 25th anniversary of the Scottish parliament.

At the ceremony to commemorate a quarter of a century since parliament opened at Holyrood, the King said: “Speaking from a personal perspective, Scotland has always had a uniquely special place in the hearts of my family and myself.

“My beloved grandmother was proudly Scottish, my late mother especially treasured the time spent at Balmoral, and it was there in the most beloved of places, where she chose to spend her final days.”

He said we are all “united by our love of Scotland”, paying tribute to its “natural beauty”, “strength of character”, “diversity of its people”, “passions and frequently deeply held beliefs”.

“From the central belt to the north Highlands, across the islands in Ayrshire, in the Borders, the cities, towns and villages, all the coastal communities, who I wonder, could not fail to be moved by this complex Caledonian kaleidoscope?,” he asked as presiding officer Alison Johnstone and the Queen sat beside him.

After he gave the speech, the King was hugged by a member of the public – who said she did so “because of him being unwell”.

The 75-year-old was diagnosed with cancer in February but has since returned to public duties.

Yvonne Macmillan, 59, from East Renfrewshire, attended the anniversary ceremony with her husband Russell who is registered blind and chosen as a “local hero” for work in their area.

“I asked him if he was feeling better and if I could give him a hug. I actually said to him: ‘Can I hug you?’,” she said.

“As I hugged him I said, ‘God bless you’, so it was like God giving him a hug.”

The King listens to the presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood. Pic: PA
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The King listens to the presiding officer of the Scottish parliament at Holyrood. Pic: PA

Queen Camilla sits alongside the King as he makes his speech on Saturday. Pic: PA
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The Queen sits alongside the King as he makes his speech on Saturday. Pic: PA

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While Sir Tony Blair’s Labour government legislated for Scottish devolution in 1997 – parliament officially opened at Holyrood on 1 July 1999.

The King has made six visits to the parliament since 1999 – while his mother Queen Elizabeth II made 10 visits during her lifetime.

The King arrives at the Scottish Parliament on Saturday. Pic: PA
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The King arrives at the Scottish parliament on Saturday. Pic: PA

Scottish First Minister John Swinney is one of a number of MSPs who have been at Holyrood since the start of devolution.

He said in his own speech in Edinburgh on Saturday that the parliament has “placed itself at the very heart of the nation”, describing it as a “vessel of enlightenment, invention and creativity”.

The King shakes hands with First Minister John Swinney. Pic: PA
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The King shakes hands with First Minister John Swinney in Edinburgh on Saturday. Pic: PA

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The SNP’s Christine Grahame is another MSP who has been there since the start.

“Free tuition, free prescriptions, game-changing policies to tackle child poverty, the ban on smoking, the baby box, ScotRail back in public ownership – none of this would have been possible without the Scottish parliament and the strength of our commitment to self-determination,” she said on Saturday.

The King said the devolved parliament has the ability to “touch and to improve the lives of so many individuals”.

Former first ministers Nicola Strugeon and Humza Yousaf take a selfie as they await the arrival of the King. Pic: PA
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Former first ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf take a selfie as they wait for the King. Pic: PA

But he added that “there remains much more to be done” for Scotland, the rest of the UK, particularly with regards to climate change.

“Let this moment therefore be the beginning of the next chapter,” he told those assembled.

“The achievement of the past and the commitment shown in the present give us the soundest basis for confidence in the future.”

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Phone thief caught red-handed hours after snatching device from woman’s hand in Croydon

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Phone thief caught red-handed hours after snatching device from woman's hand in Croydon

A moped riding phone thief was caught red-handed after police tracked the device down hours after he snatched it from a woman’s hand.

CCTV footage released by police showed a masked moped rider mount the pavement in Croydon, south London, to swipe a phone from a woman’s hand on 6 March, while another victim had theirs stolen while they waited for a bus an hour later.

Amari Scott, 20, looked surprised when confronted by officers inside a shop, where he was found with two mobile phones.

Amari Scott was caught red-handed. Pic: Met Police
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Amari Scott was caught red-handed. Pic: Met Police

“We’ve just had a moped rob a mobile phone off the pavement and the phone is pinging in this location,” one of the officers told him in body-worn camera footage before Scott was handcuffed and led away.

Police also recovered a stolen motorbike and Scott, from Sutton, south London, was later jailed for four years.

Two teenagers who committed four robberies in the space of just half an hour were also arrested as part of a crackdown in Croydon.

Aged 16 and 17, the teens were issued with referral orders after pleading guilty to charges of robbery, attempted robbery and attempted grievous bodily harm.

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Amari Scott was jailed for four years. Pic: Met Police
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Amari Scott was jailed for four years. Pic: Met Police

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They were behind a spree of eight robberies across Croydon and nearby Bromley, including four within 30 minutes on the morning of 5 August.

Their crimes, which included the knife point robbery of a rough sleeper outside Croydon library, were caught on CCTV.

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One of the teenagers tried to discard a knife before she was arrested after a foot chase, telling officers: “The knife wasn’t mine”.

The other ran away, leaving a knife and his bag, but was lying in bed at home when he was arrested shortly after.

Two teenagers committed four robberies in 30 minutes. Pic: Met Police
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Two teenagers committed four robberies in 30 minutes. Pic: Met Police

The Metropolitan Police said officers are intensifying efforts to tackle robbery and theft, encouraging victims to report incidents as they happen to increase the chances of catching the criminals.

Chief Inspector James Weston said: “We understand the impact that robbery has on victims – it is invasive and frightening.

“That’s why our teams are working so hard to deter and catch offenders to reassure our local community.

“Thanks to the hard work of officers, our partners and community grassroots organisations, we are stepping up our efforts and tackling the issues that matter most to the people of Croydon.”

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