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UK Prime Minister Liz Truss was clinging to power on Monday after suffering the abject humiliation of being forced to U-Turn on much of the economic programme she announced only last month.
The premier watched on in the House of Commons as Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, the former leadership rival she installed to rescue her premiership, dismantled much of what was left of her September 23 “Growth Plan.” She later apologised for her mistakes in a BBC television interview.
The astonishing reversal — designed to bring stability to the financial markets after weeks of turmoil — leaves Truss in office but toothless and unable to proceed with the tax-cutting platform that won her the Conservative Party leadership contest.
Now, even the premier’s closest supporters are asking how long her leadership can last, according to ministers and aides in her government, who asked not to be named discussing her future. Truss is braced for further challenges to her authority in coming days, they said. However, both Truss allies and internal opponents expressed doubts that she could be removed as soon as this week. Only five Tory MPs have publicly called for her to quit, and some two-thirds would need to do so for Conservative leadership rules to be changed. She’s currently protected for her first year of office and last night pledged to lead the party into the next election.
“The anxiety-inducing element of all of this is that there isn’t a path,” Simon Hoare, an MP from the moderate wing of the party, said in an interview on BBC radio on yesterday.– Bloomberg
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