70 TORY MPs COULD FORCE TRUSS OUT
»»‘Nuclear option’ is in best interests of nation, says one »»She’s turned party into a laughing stock, says another
EXCLUSIVE
TORY plotters have been busy tapping up 70 MPs in a bid to oust new Prime Minister Liz Truss for trashing the economy. option so soon after the last leadership contest but we must think of the best interests of the country.”
We revealed 12 no-confidence letters went in as soon as Ms Truss became Prime Minister 27 days ago. But under the rules of the 1922 Committee of backbench Tory MPs she cannot face a confidence vote until a year after taking office – even if the number reaches the 54 needed to trigger one.
However, the committee could change those rules in the wake of a week of horror for the Tory Party following Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s £45billion of unfunded mini-budget tax cuts.
It saw the pound tank to a record low of $1.03, although it has rallied since. And the Bank of England had to step in to save pension pots.
Now senior Tories say 70 letters would persuade 1922 chair Sir Graham to warn Ms Truss he would call a meeting of his committee executive to decide if the rules need to be changed.
But he cannot do that until October 18 when a new executive is formed following the departure of vice-chair
Nusrat Ghani on becoming Ms Truss’s industry minister.
Former No10 aide Dominic Cummings predicted: “Truss is in a flat spin and won’t recover. The only thing going for her is she doesn’t have to face someone like Barack Obama or Bill Clinton. But Truss is so bad even dud Starmer can win.”
Markets went into meltdown
because the Chancellor refused to publish Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts for his spending splurge.
The OBR will now deliver their report to Mr Kwarteng on Friday but the Chancellor insists it will not see the light of day until November 23 when he makes his next financial
statement. MPs say that is not good enough and at least a summary must be published to stop another run on the pound.
Ian Mulheirn, chief economist at the Tony Blair Institute, told us: “The OBR is likely to show that he blew the Government’s financial rules out of the water. And the
deficit will pile more pain on to the housing market.”
That leaves the PM with the option of either a U-turn on abolishing the 45% top tax rate or savage cuts.
Mr Mulheirn added: “Cutting public services going into winter, with the NHS in crisis and public sector workers striking, would be suicidal.
The PM must accept political reality and walk back on tax cuts.”
Mr Mulheirn added that interest rates are so high because Britain’s credibility to manage its finances is so low. Even a U-turn may not be enough for
Tory MPs furious that Ms Truss has
lost the confidence of the markets so soon as PM.
One said: “We’re meant to be the party of financial responsibility and we’ve become a laughing stock.”
Former Treasury Secretary David Mellor told GB News: “I can’t imagine how a new PM and Chancellor could have made such a mess.”
Kate Bell of the TUC added: “This budget must be reversed to protect families and businesses.”
Former Tory minister Sir Alan Duncan said yesterday the minibudget had been “a colossal disaster.”
Alastair Douglas of TotallyMoney said 20 million people cannot access credit to control finances, a 50% rise since 2016.
nigel.nelson@sundaymirror.co.uk