An uphill battle as Truss urges Tory unity
BRITISH Prime Minister Liz Truss yesterday urged her fractious party to stick together and help transform the economy and the country, fighting to restore her dwindling authority after a chaotic first month in office.
Addressing Conservative lawmakers and members at an annual conference overshadowed by internal bickering and confusion over policy, Truss said the party needed to unite to kick-start stagnant growth and tackle the many problems facing Britain.
So far, however, her misfiring attempt to cut £45 billion (R908bn) of taxes and hike government borrowing has sent turmoil through markets and her party, with opinion polls pointing to electoral collapse rather than a honeymoon period for the new leader.
“We gather at a vital time for the UK. These are stormy days,” she said, referring to the Covid-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine and the death of Britain’s longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
As she started to speak, two protesters held up a sign asking “Who voted for this?” before they were escorted away by security personnel as the crowd chanted “out, out, out”.
Truss, elected by party members and not the broader electorate, was addressing the party faithful after she was forced to reverse plans to scrap the top rate of tax. She acknowledged that change brings “disruption”.
“For too long, the political debate has been dominated by how we distribute a limited economic pie. Instead, we need to grow the pie so that everyone gets a bigger slice,” she said in the central English city of Birmingham.
“That is why I am determined to take a new approach and break us out of this high-tax, low-growth cycle.”
The conference, once expected to be her crowning glory after being appointed prime minister on September 6, has turned into a personal nightmare, and a battle for the country’s political future.
While markets have largely stabilised after the Bank of England stepped in to shore up the bond market – albeit after the cost of borrowing surged – opinion polls now point to an electoral collapse for the Conservatives.
Britain’s best known pollster said Labour now held an average lead of 25 percentage points and the Conservatives needed to accept they were “in deep, deep electoral trouble”.