Things are getting tight for Liz Truss’ government. With her tax program she has thrown Great Britain into chaos. Your own party is discussing a replacement.
Liz Truss and Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng must brace themselves for the worst: pictured visiting a medical center construction site.
(dpa)/tsf. Panic and opposition to British Prime Minister Liz Truss is growing in the Conservative Party. As the London newspaper “Times” reports, leading Tories are discussing replacing the head of government after just over a month in office. There are considerations to set up a joint candidate.
A pact between ex-Finance Minister Rishi Sunak and Tory leader Penny Mordaunt is also possible, the Times reported, citing senior party members. Both had failed in the internal competition for party leadership because of Truss. A “council of elders” made up of dozens of former cabinet members is ready to ask Truss to give up.
Finance Minister Kwarteng returns to London as an emergency
There are increasing signs of another U-turn by the British government. At the IMF meeting in Washington on Thursday, the head of the British central bank, Andrew Bailey, was asked whether stopping the tax cut package would put an end to the weeks of turbulence on the British markets. He didn’t comment, but smiled broadly. When Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng abruptly returned to London from Washington hours later to deal with the escalating crisis at home, the reason for Bailey’s satisfaction was clear. In London, Kwarteng apparently wants to discuss with Truss whether another part of his budget will be withdrawn.
British diplomats in Washington could not remember the last time a UK Chancellor of the Exchequer had departed early from the annual high office of the global financial elite at the International Monetary Fund. What was clear, however, was that Kwarteng’s household had gotten out of joint and he had no other choice.
Out of joint
The Truss government has been facing harsh criticism from within its own ranks for weeks. The reason for this is Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng’s budget, which was only financed with debt and which triggered severe market turbulence. After fierce protests, including from leading Tories, Truss and Kwarteng reversed the abolition of the top tax rate.
Now another turnaround is likely: As the newspaper “Guardian” wrote, Truss and Kwarteng do not want to withdraw the significant increase in corporate tax planned for April. The Prime Minister had repeatedly stressed that the increase from 19 to 25 percent decided by her predecessor Boris Johnson would be canceled.
Truss doesn’t seem to get anywhere with the voters anymore. In a survey by the opinion research institute Yougov for the “Times”, 50 percent were in favor of putting Truss in front of the door, only 9 percent supported the head of government.