Liz Truss struggles for political survival
The new British Finance Minister admitted on Saturday the that he would make “very difficult decisions” in the face of the crisis that the country is going through, a change, of course, that may not be enough for Prime Minister Liz Truss to save her post.
“Truss fights for her survival,” headlined The Times on Saturday, writing that “even in Downing Street, top officials think it is only a matter of time before she is forced to leave.”
“Truss clings to power,” the conservative Daily Telegraph published on its front page. According to the newspaper, the Torys parliamentarians continue to conspire so that she leaves as soon as possible.
“What else can (she and all of us) take?” asked the Daily Mail, which considers that on Friday “the chaos, confusion and changes in attitude reached unprecedented extremes.”
On Saturday, the new finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, admitted that “mistakes” were made, both by Prime Minister Liz Truss, and by her predecessor in the ministry, Kwasi Kwarteng, fired the day before.
“The prime minister recognized it and that is why I am here,” he said on Sky News in his first public statements since his appointment.
Hunt, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Health and close to Rishi Sunak – an adversary of Truss in the campaign to gain access to Downing Street – must take charge of the budget announced on September 23 by his predecessor and very badly received by the markets, a good part of the Conservative Party and the population.
“What I can do is show that we can finance our projects on taxes and spending and that is going to require very difficult decisions,” warned Hunt
Hunt said “some taxes won’t be cut as fast as people would like. Some will go up.”
The Conservative leader, in power for just over a month, finally agreed to raise corporate tax, a measure by the previous government that she was determined to abolish.
Bank of England
One of the first actions of the new minister was to meet with Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, who had to act urgently to calm the markets after the presentation of the economic plan.
Hunt now appears as the government’s strongman, while Truss is considerably weakened by her changes in position. She was also unconvincing at her Friday news conference.
For the Financial Times, Truss sacrificed Kwarteng “in a bid to save” her head but “the only thing that unites the (Conservative) party is a lack of confidence in Truss.”
On Friday, she dodged questions about her personal fate, insisting that she remained “absolutely determined” to roll out her policy of supporting growth.
“I feel totally cheated,” conservative MP Christopher Chope said on the BBC, and the leader had appeared on Friday “in total opposition to everything she had supported in her election.”
But in the Conservative Party looms the specter of a terrible defeat if they call a general election, as the Labour opposition leads in the polls.
