Scrap vile benefit cut
» Bid to make poorest fund tax cuts for rich » Tory MPs furious at ‘untenable’ plan
LIZ truss faces a mutiny from tory MPs unless she scraps plans to snatch £1000 in benefits from hard-up families to fund her tax cuts for millionaires.
Tories yesterday said it would be “untenable” and “unconscionable” for ministers to go back on a promise to increase benefit payments in line with inflation next year.
A rebel ringleader said: “We will have zero chance of keeping our seats if we do not stop this, so we will do whatever it takes.”
Vicious Tory in-fighting is expected to dominate the party’s annual conference, which kicks off in Birmingham tomorrow.
A government source said announcements at the conference would be “rhetoric rather than actual policies” as there is no money left since the mini-Budget chaos pushed up borrowing costs, leaving less to spend.
After triggering a week of economic turmoil, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and Truss yesterday met leaders of the Office for Budget Responsibility in a bid to reassure markets, but they showed no sign of backtracking on their plans to cut taxes for the richest one per cent.
And they refuse to publish the OBR’s independent assessment of their plans for another seven weeks.
A poll today shows voters have given a massive thumbs-down to their proposals, with 56 per cent thinking they are bad for the country.
The Deltapoll survey shows just 27 per cent support scrapping the cap on bankers’ bonuses and only 17 per cent back abolishing the 45 per cent income tax rate. By a margin of more than two to one, those polled believe they will be worse off due to the mini-Budget.
Truss, who visited the British Gas Academy in Kent yesterday, has a personal approval rating of -29, while Keir Starmer is on +11.
On the question of who would be best for the economy, twice as many voters picked Labour as the Tories.
A YouGov poll last night showed 51 per cent thought the PM should resign after just 25 days in the job.
Truss last night refused to be drawn on her benefits squeeze plan.
As Chancellor, Rishi Sunak promised benefits would rise next April in line with the consumer prices index but ministers are considering using the rise in average earnings instead.
The Resolution Foundation said a typical low-income working family with two children would be £1061 a year worse off. A single parent with one child would lose £607.
Tory MP Peter Aldous said benefits must rise with inflation.
He said: “Anything less will be unconscionable to people, given the Government’s tax-cutting agenda elsewhere.” Writing in The House, he said: “Time is running out to show British people the Conservative Party deserves the honour of serving as their government.”
Fellow Tory Robert Largan said: “This is untenable. You cannot freeze benefits and pensions while cutting taxes for millionaires.”
Sir Charles Walker, former chairman of the 1922 Committee of Tory backbenchers, said he was almost certain the party would lose the next election.
Time is running out to show the British people our party deserves to be in government
PETER ALDOUS CONSERVATIVE MP
You cannot freeze benefits but cut taxes for the millionaires
ROBERT LARGAN CONSERVATIVE MP