Liz Truss is on her way out but Tory divisions run so deep the infighting is far from over
In the end, Liz Truss lasted less than seven weeks in the job. Never the first choice of Tory MPs, the decisions she made as prime minister finished her off at record pace.
She will be, by some distance, the United Kingdom’s shortest-ever serving prime minister. Her allies promised “shock and awe” when she entered Number 10, but few predicted that she would turn Westminster into such a disaster zone.
Today, there’s a collective sense of shock, rather like the aftermath of a car crash, where you emerge from the wreckage dazed and confused, asking yourself what just happened.
In the case of the Truss administration, the question is how on earth did the wheels come off the government so quickly and spectacularly? And what does that mean for the Conservative Party, our politics and the country now?
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The central mistake of Liz Truss was to treat the business of government rather like a continuation of her election campaign. She made all sorts of promises to party members – on tax cuts and on spending commitments in order to win them over. When she entered Number 10, she didn’t recalibrate or compromise.
I remember the interview I did with her just days before her mini-budget at the top of the Empire State Building in New York when she told me, “I am prepared to be unpopular,” in order to push through her economic plan. She perhaps thought it was a show of strength. It turned out to be incredibly foolhardy.
It led to fatal errors that cost Ms Truss her job. Instead of consulting the markets, taking soundings from the Treasury, or even gauging the views of her cabinet properly, she and her then chancellor Kwasi Kwateng unleashed £45bn of unfunded tax cuts on the markets in a mini-budget that went even further than she had signalled in her leadership race.
I had thought when Ms Truss became prime minister, she might have stuck to commitments on tax cuts but staggered them in a way that might have been more palatable to the markets.
She did not, and she paid a heavy political price over the following weeks. Forced to U-turn on plans to scrap the 45p rate of tax, then sacking her chancellor before the incoming one, Jeremy Hunt, just about junked her entire economic plan. By Monday this week, it was clear that Liz Truss was a Prime Minister without a policy platform and out of control of her party.
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As Liz Truss resigns as prime minister, we take a look back on her political journey.
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But the British public was also paying the price for her reckless decisions, with interest rates rising faster than had been anticipated before that mini-budget amid a cost of living crisis in which inflation hit a record 40-year high in September.
She has become one of the UK’s most unpopular prime ministers in the space of just a few weeks – with just one in ten Britons satisfied with her leadership. An unrecoverable position, it was clear to me after that fateful press conference where Ms Truss sacked her chancellor that the game was up – what was less clear was how it would end.
That ending was accelerated by the chaos of the fracking vote on Thursday night. Ahead of that horror show, senior influential figures in the party had told me that there was no appetite to remove Ms Truss before the critical fiscal statement on October 31.
Pics: REUTERS/Henry Nicholls
They worried this could further unsettle markets: “The media mood I think is more febrile that the parliamentary mood,” one person familiar with the discussions of the 1922 committee told me soon after PMQs.
But that all changed after the evening of chaos, confusion of whips’ resignations and altercations in the voting lobbies between Conservative MPs.
“Everything that happened today could have been avoided, if it had been better managed,” remarked one wise former cabinet minister to me late on Wednesday night. “They didn’t have to create crisis points in terms of whipping votes. That they did is a symptom of where we are.”
But it did trigger a crisis – one which took a life of its own. As Boris Johnson said of his own infamous demise, “when the herd moves, it moves.” The momentum built and the party moved quickly. By Thursday lunchtime, Ms Truss announced she was out.
But the speed was also hastened not just by policy decisions but by politics. This was a prime minister who only ever had the public support of 42% of MPs, despite being nailed onto win for weeks.
It told us that Ms Truss was always going to have a problem winning over the parliamentary party, but instead of recognising her limitations and building a cabinet from different wings of the party, Ms Truss doubled down on winning power.
Rishi Sunak leaves his house in London
She kept Sunak supporters out of office and rewarded her allies. It meant that she was not sufficiently challenged by the cabinet in decision-making and failed to garner any goodwill from the wider parliamentary party.
There is also a view from those former cabinet ministers who were agitating from the outset that Ms Truss was never really up to the job in the first place. When her policy platform sparked such dire consequences, the public concluded that too. So she had to go.
But three prime ministers in four months and endless infighting – all during a cost of living crisis – is the worst possible advertisement of a party that wants to convince the public it is fit to lead the country.
Labour want a general election, calling the Conservatives a “coalition of chaos.” The public, meanwhile, are thoroughly fed up, with Labour now consistently polling 20 to 30 percentage points ahead of the Tories.
That is why 1992 chair Sir Graham Brady and the Conservative Party want to replace the prime minister within a week. It is an attempt to get on with the business of government and try to prove to the public that the Tories are capable of governing.
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Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer calls for a general election
But the mood in the party is desperate. Senior MPs tell me they think there’s little chance of winning the next general election, and the latest iteration of this Conservative psychodrama is designed not to win but to try to limit the losses.
So this will be a short, sharp contest with the aim of installing a new PM within the week. Nominations close on Monday at 2pm, and any candidate who wants to stand has to win 100 nominations. As things stand, it looks to me that the only two candidates that could reach the threshold are Rishi Sunak, who won 137 votes in the last contest, and Penny Mordaunt, who reached 105.
If only one of the candidates crosses the magic 100 threshold, we will know on Monday who will be the next prime minister. The party knows it’s on borrowed time with a fulminating public. This has to end, and soon.
“We are deeply conscious – its imperative in the national interest – in resolving this clearly and quickly,” Sir Graham told me this afternoon.
Labour want a general election, the Conservatives will resist. But the question that is first and foremost in my mind, after the second bout of vicious bloodletting in the Conservative Party in just four months, is whether MPs can come together behind whoever takes over?
Some think the divisions and the grievances are just too deep. The Johnsonites will never accept Rishi Sunak; the Sunakites rounded on Ms Truss and might round on the next leader too, should their man not take the crown. We will have a new prime minister, but its hard to see how it stops the rot.
Watch a special programme tonight at 7pm with Dermot Murnaghan on Sky News
The man suspected of shooting dead two Israeli embassy workers in Washington DC leaned over and fired at them repeatedly after they fell to the ground, the FBI has said.
Elias Rodriguez, 31, has been charged with murdering Sarah Milgrim and her boyfriend Yaron Lischinsky, after they left an event at the Capital Jewish Museum on Wednesday night.
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Footage has showed Rodriguez, from Chicago, chanting “free, free Palestine” as he was arrested.
It later emerged Mr Lischinsky had bought a ring and planned to propose to Ms Milgrim.
Authorities are investigating the killings as both a hate crime against the Jewish community and terrorism.
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Shootings suspect shouts ‘free Palestine!’
‘I did it for Gaza’
It comes as the FBI has said in a charging document on Thursday that surveillance footage shows how Ms Milgrim and Mr Lischinsky died.
Rodriguez is allegedly seen passing the couple after they left the museum before shooting them in the back.
The FBI says the footage then shows him leaning over the couple and firing at them several more times after they fell to the ground.
The video then shows Ms Milgrim attempting to crawl away before “(Rodriguez) followed behind her and fired again”, the charging document says.
The suspected gunman is then accused of reloading his weapon and firing at Ms Milgrim as she sat up.
According to the charging document, Rodriguez then jogged to the museum and once inside asked to speak to a police officer before stating that he “did it” and that he was unarmed.
He is then said to have told police: “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza, I am unarmed.”
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DC shooting: Father pays tribute to ‘perfect’ daughter
Suspect ‘expressed admiration’ for fatal protest
The court document also states that 21 expended 9mm bullet cases were found at the scene and the gun was slide-locked – meaning it was empty of ammunition.
An empty gun magazine was also recovered from the scene.
The FBI says it has obtained travel records which show Rodriguez flew from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport to the Reagan National in Washington DC on Tuesday with the gun in his checked baggage.
Rodriguez had bought the weapon in the state of Illinois on 6 March 2020, according to the charging document.
The FBI has said that while Rodriguez was in custody he “expressed admiration” for a US Air Force member who set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC on 25 February 2024.
Aaron Bushnell died in the apparent act of protest against the war in Gaza.
Rodriguez also told police he bought a ticket to the museum around three hours before the event that was attended by Ms Milgrim and Mr Lischinsky.
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During a brief court appearance at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse in Washington DC today, Rodriguez was charged with two counts of first degree murder and with the murder of foreign officials.
He has also been charged with causing the death of a person through the use of a firearm and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Rodriguez was told he could face life in prison or the death penalty if he is found guilty.
He remained calm throughout the hearing, paying attention to the proceedings throughout and confirmed that he is asking the court to appoint an attorney on his behalf.
He will next appear at a federal court in Washington DC on 18 June.
Murdered couple ‘were perfect for each other’
Meanwhile, Ms Milgrim’s father, Robert, says he feared his daughter might be in danger when he saw news alerts of a fatal shooting in Washington DC.
Ms Milgrim’s mother Nancy opened a phone locator app and saw Ms Milgrim was at the Capital Jewish Museum.
“Shortly after that, the Israeli ambassador called us on my wife’s phone,” Mr Milgrim told Sky News’ partner network NBC News, fighting back tears.
He added that it was the ambassador who told them Mr Lischinksy had bought a ring and was planning to propose to Ms Milgrim.
“They were perfect for each other, he said.
Mr Milgrim continued: “They just brought us joy, and her memory, which is a blessing, will continue to bring us joy – but it’s not the same as her not being here.”
There are multiple layers to this shocking act of extreme violence.
The presence of the US attorney general at a midnight news conference is a clear indication of the Trump administration’s shock and swift reaction. Pam Bondi had already visited the scene of the attack.
The president himself was quick to comment on social media, calling it out as antisemitism and saying: “Hatred and Radicalism have no place in the USA.”
Israeli embassy staff shooting suspect ‘shouted free Palestine’ – follow live updates
A man with an Israeli flag kneels at the scene. Pic: Reuters
There will be immediate questions for the US authorities about the security of Israeli diplomats. The shooting happened in the downtown area of DC, not far from the FBI field office and the FBI headquarters.
The two victims are understood to be junior aides and so probably not considered particular targets. But the shooting will prompt a fresh look at diplomatic security arrangements.
A video has emerged online said to show the gunman calmly shouting “free free Palestine” as he was detained by museum security.
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Tearful witness: ‘He shot this young couple’
Pro-Palestinian protests have been intense on college campuses, outside embassies and elsewhere; the Israeli embassy in Washington has been a particular focus of protesters.
Last year, a 25-year-old active duty US airman immolated himself in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington to protest the war in Gaza.
Israel’s diplomatic relations with close allies, including the UK, France and others, have become increasingly strained over the methods used in its continuing war in Gaza.
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Emergency services at the scene of the shooting. Pic: AP
Pic: Reuters
Authorities will also be braced for how this incident plays in the days ahead.
There will be a concern within the Trump administration that this man’s actions will be given some glorification in parts of society, mainly online, in the same way Luigi Mangione became not just infamous but famous for allegedly shooting dead a healthcare executive in protest of corporate greed.
Expect prompt condemnation from the White House of any such glorification.
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There is also a deeply tragic twist to this shooting. The two young victims were a couple and were due to travel to Jerusalem in the days ahead to become engaged.
I’ve been in touch with contacts at the Israeli embassy where the entire team is in shock and reeling at the loss of two of their own on the streets of Washington.
World
Washington suspect told witness he ‘did this for Gaza’ in frenzied moments after Israeli embassy workers shot dead
Witnesses have told Sky News of the moments after a man shot two Israeli embassy staff members outside a Jewish museum in Washington DC.
Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Lynn Milgram, a couple who were about to become engaged, were shot dead as they left the Annual Young Diplomats reception at the Capital Jewish Museum in the US capital.
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Footage emerges of Washington suspect
The suspect, named as Elias Rodriguez by police, shot at a group of four people just over a mile from the White House and then chanted a pro-Palestinian slogan in custody.
The event organiser told Sky News she handed the suspect water, mistakenly believing him to be an “innocent bystander”.
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Shooting suspect shouted ‘free Palestine’
Jojo Drake Kalin said the event was wrapping up when she headed to the lobby to find “commotion and a frenzy” but at that time, no one was aware two people had lost their lives.
“The gunshots were heard, so security started locking the doors and that is when I saw who I now know is the… murderer of this Israeli-Jewish couple,” she said.
Analysis: Trump team will worry about Washington attacker being glorified
Ms Drake Kalin didn’t find out until “much later” who she was actually talking to.
“I see him [and] he seems very distraught. I now understand it’s because he killed two people point-blank. [I] offered him water, he accepted,” she said.
“The second I’ve handed him water, he whips out his keffiyeh [a scarf] and yells ‘Free Palestine’ and then he’s subdued by the officers on scene.”
Ms Drake Kalin said the event was themed around “bridge-building” between Israeli and Palestinian communities.
She called it “painfully ironic” that someone came in with “such hate and destruction”, considering the event’s theme.
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Tearful witness: ‘He shot this young couple’
Another witness, John Elleson, cried as he told Sky News correspondent Ashish Joshi what he saw.
“A guy came up and… looked like [he had a] gun, I couldn’t tell what it was, but I heard it afterwards, the shots, and he shot this young couple,” he said.
“He ran inside and yelled something.
“It was terrible. It was terrible.”
Another eyewitness, Katie Kalisher, said it was around 9.07pm when she heard gunshots.
“Then a man comes in. He looks really distressed and people are talking to him and trying to calm him down,” she said.
“Eventually, he comes over to where I was and we were like, ‘Do you need any water?’, ‘Are you okay?'”
Ms Kalisher said the suspect asked her what kind of museum he was in and when she replied, “It’s a Jewish museum,” he said: “Do you think that’s why they did this?”
She told him she didn’t think so but he then reached into his bag and pulled out a keffiyeh.
“[He] says, ‘I did it. I did this for Gaza’ – and just starts shouting ‘free Palestine’ and that’s when the police came in and arrested him,” said Ms Kalisher.
The reaction to the shooting has been one of shock, with President Donald Trump condemning the “horrible killings” which he said were “based obviously on antisemitism”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his heart ached for the families of the victims, “whose lives were cut short in a moment by an abhorrent antisemitic murderer”.
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