Liz Truss under pressure as three Tory MPs publicly call for her to quit – and Labour demand she faces parliament
Labour has called for Liz Truss to face parliament today after three Tory MPs broke ranks to demand that she quits.
The prime minister is facing calls to resign from within her own party just six weeks after entering Number 10, following the economic turmoil in the wake of the mini-budget.
Tory MPs Crispin Blunt, Andrew Bridgen and Jamie Wallis have all publicly stated they believe she should resign, as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Ms Truss of being “in office but not in power”.
The Daily Mail reported that Tory MPs will try to oust Ms Truss this week, with more than 100 ready to submit letters of no confidence.
It comes after the PM dramatically ditched a major chunk of the mini-budget and sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor, replacing him with Jeremy Hunt, in a bid to restore credibility.
The new chancellor has signalled that the country could be facing a package of tax rises and spending cuts, in a move that would make a complete reversal of Ms Truss’s promised economic vision.
Read more: Who could replace Liz Truss as PM if she is ousted?
Friday saw Ms Truss give a brief news conference to explain her latest U-turn, but Sir Keir said it “completely failed to answer any of the questions the public has”.
He said: “Mortgages are rising and the cost of living crisis is being felt ever more acutely. The Conservative government is currently the biggest threat to the security and the finances of families across the country.
“That’s why the prime minister must come to parliament on Monday, to explain what she plans to do to turn the situation around.
“If the prime minister won’t take questions from journalists, Liz Truss must at least take them from MPs representing the families whose livelihoods she’s putting at risk.”
If the prime minister does not agree to make a statement later, Labour could try to force her to come to the Commons.
‘The game is up’
Ms Truss and the new chancellor met in Chequers on Sunday, as the pair begin work on what will effectively be a new budget on 31 October.
But Mr Blunt, who was the first Tory MP to publicly call for Ms Truss to resign, said “the game is up” for the prime minister.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Blindingly obvious Liz Truss must go’
He told Sky News it was “blindingly obvious” that Ms Truss had to go and backed former chancellor Rishi Sunak to replace her.
“The principal 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.”
Read more: Hunt is now an all-powerful back seat driver, MPs believe – analysis
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen also called for Ms Truss to quit as PM, saying “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.
“I have written to the prime minister to ask her to stand down as she no longer holds the confidence of this country.”
However Ms Truss received the backing of her former leadership rival Penny Mordaunt who said the “country needs stability, not a soap opera”.
Writing in the Telegraph, the leader of the Commons told her colleagues that the “national mission” is clear but said it “needs pragmatism and teamwork”.
“It needs us to work with the prime minister and her new chancellor. It needs all of us,” she wrote.
Could Tory Party change rules to oust Truss?
Asked how the party could get rid of Ms Truss, 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.”
The former justice minister later added: “If the issue does have to be forced, a way can be found to force it.”
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
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”.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries said bypassing the rules in a bid to remove Ms Truss would make the system a “laughing stock”.
She tweeted: “The ’22 rules were put in place to act as a barrier against the regicidal nature of Conservative MPs.
“What is the point of the ’22 committee if the rules mean absolutely nothing?
“It’s a laughing stock and not fit for purpose if it makes it up as it goes along!”
Former chancellor George Osborne has predicted 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.
To register your interest and share your story, please email TheGreatDebate@sky.uk
The UK will “set out a path” to lift defence spending to 2.5% of national income in the spring, the prime minister has said, finally offering a timeframe for an announcement on the long-awaited hike after mounting criticism.
Sir Keir Starmer gave the date during a phone call with Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, in the wake of threats by Moscow to target UK and US military facilities following a decision by London and Washington to let Ukraine fire their missiles inside Russia.
There was no clarity though on when the 2.5% level will be achieved. The UK says it currently spends around 2.3% of GDP on defence.
Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sir Keir Starmer and NATO boss Mark Rutte in October. Pic: PA
Ukraine war latest: Follow live updates
A spokeswoman for Downing Street said that the two men “began by discussing the situation in Ukraine and reiterated the importance of putting the country in the strongest possible position going into the winter”.
They also talked about the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers to fight alongside Russia.
“The prime minister underscored the need for all NATO countries to step up in support of our collective defence and updated on the government’s progress on the strategic defence review,” the spokeswoman said.
“His government would set out the path to 2.5% in the spring.”
The defence review will also be published in the spring.
Read more from Sky News:
Strike using UK-made Storm Shadow missiles ‘very successful’
Putin warns US and UK over ‘escalation of aggressive actions’
While a date for an announcement on 2.5% will be welcomed by the Ministry of Defence, analysts have long warned that such an increase is still well below the amount that is needed to rebuild the armed forces after decades of decline to meet growing global threats from Russia, an increasingly assertive China, North Korea and Iran.
They say the UK needs to be aiming to hit at least 3% – probably higher.
With Donald Trump returning to the White House, there will be significantly more pressure on the UK and other European NATO allies to accelerate increases in defence spending.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after one man died and another was critically injured in a shooting in Birmingham.
Police were called to Rotton Park Road in Edgbaston, just before 11pm on Friday, to reports that two people had been shot.
One man, in his 20s, was found in a car but was pronounced dead at the scene.
Another man, in his 30s, was found injured at a bus stop, and was taken to hospital where he remains in a critical condition, West Midlands Police added.
Firearms officers arrested a man in his 30s on suspicion of murder just before 12.30am. He remains in custody.
Officers remain on the scene, with road closures in place. The force said reassurance patrols will also be taking place.
Detective Inspector Nick Barnes said: “This is a tragic incident, and we have worked through the night to understand exactly what happened.
“We’ve already made good progress and arrested a suspect, but I still need to hear from anyone who was in the area that we’ve not already spoken to.
“This happened near the busy junction with City Road and it may be that you’ve got dashcam footage or mobile phone footage from the area just before 11pm.
“We really need to hear from you so that we can build as clear a picture as possible of what happened.”
Officers are urging anyone with information to get in contact, with anonymous tips also taken via Crimestoppers.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway