News from Liz Truss – latest: Michael Gove says PM removal is ‘a matter of when, not if’
Moment Liz Truss appears in Commons after mysterious absence
Arch-Liz Truss critic Michael Gove said it was a matter of when, not if the Prime Minister leaves office, warning the public to expect ‘a lot of pain over the next two months “.
The former upgrade secretary said ‘we are going through hell’ and need ‘hard economic medicine’ to reduce inflation and recover the economy from the damage of Ms Truss’ mini-budget.
Asked if it’s ‘no longer about if Liz Truss goes, but when she goes’, Mr Gove agreed that was ‘absolutely correct’.
He added: “The question for any leader is what happens when the program or platform you provided leadership on has been shredded.”
Earlier Downing Street revealed that Ms Truss was no longer determined to raise state pensions in line with inflation as her new chancellor seeks to cut public spending by deviating from the failed growth strategy of the Prime Minister.
A spokesman said ministers could abandon the long-standing triple lockdown, which requires the government to raise pensions whichever is greater – 2.5%, wages or inflation.
Welsh secretary warns against ousting Truss
Welsh Secretary Sir Robert Buckland has warned Tory MPs who are considering ousting Liz Truss as Prime Minister to ‘be careful what you wish for’.
The Cabinet Minister told BBC Newsnight: ‘The more leaders the Conservative Party changes, the stronger the case for a general election becomes.
“Now Labor wants the Tories to cut and change another leader because they think their best opportunity is a snap election.
“I say to my colleagues, be careful what you wish for. An early election benefits no one, including the Conservative Party and certainly not the country. »
Liam JamesOctober 19, 2022 02:07
Britain backs down with these people in charge | Comment
Alastair Campbell joined The Independent‘s call for an election.
He writes: Four prime ministers in six years. Four Chancellors of the Exchequer in as many months. Even collapsing Greece couldn’t come close.
The people who gave us this disaster are not the people to get us out of it. The idea that they should be able to install a fifth prime minister without reference to the general public is democratic obscenity.
Learn more about Alastair Campbell here:
Britain backs down with these people in charge | Alastair Campbell
Election now: A general election is the only way to give the country a chance to move forward, writes Alastair Campbell
Liam JamesOctober 19, 2022 01:02
Jacob Rees-Mogg faces legal challenge over fracking plans | Exclusive
Jacob Rees-Mogg is facing legal action over his decision to lift the fracking moratorium in England (Andre Bécasse writing).
Environmental and community groups have sent a legal letter, seen by The Independentto notify the Business Secretary of their intention to seek judicial review of his decision, on the grounds that it was ‘unlawful’ to overturn the 2019 ban on the controversial gas extraction method without new scientific evidence to prove that she is sure.
The decision by Friends of the Earth, Talk Fracking and Preston New Road Action Group comes as MPs vote on a Labor bid to ban fracking ‘once and for all’ through a parliamentary vote.
Jacob Rees-Mogg facing legal challenge over fracking plans
Exclusive: MPs to vote on Labor bid to ban controversial gas extraction method ‘once and for all’
Liam JamesOctober 19, 2022 12:07 a.m.
Ex-DWP secretary warns of threat to pensions
A former work and pensions secretary has added his voice to growing Tory opposition to Liz Truss’ potential abandonment of her pledge to raise state pensions in line with inflation.
Stephen Crabb said The Telegraph“Now is not the time to consider abandoning the triple lockdown, especially after such clear promises were made after the last temporary pause.
“Maintaining the value of the public pension during the cost of living crisis is essential.”
Downing Street today indicated ministers could scrap the triple state pension lockdown, which requires the government to increase payments in line with the greater of 2.5%, inflation or wages.
Liam JamesOctober 18, 2022 11:18 p.m.
Lost the plot’: Liz Truss voters deliver damning verdict on PM so far
So far, residents of the Liz Truss constituency in south-west Norfolk have given damning criticism of their MP’s time as Prime Minister.
After just six weeks in office, Ms Truss’s premiership has been turbulent, with the mini-budget sending the pound plummeting and a number of Tory MPs publicly calling for her to step down.
Here’s what locals think of their representative:
Truss voters discuss his prospects
Liam JamesOctober 18, 2022 10:29 p.m.
Britain cannot go on like this. We call for elections – now
It’s time for the people to have their say.
here’s why The Independent calls for general elections:
Editorial: Britain cannot go on like this. We call for elections – now
Editorial: If the particular Truss-Hunt administration is determined to do things that no one voted for, then it needs that essential ingredient for success: democratic legitimacy
Liam JamesOctober 18, 2022 10:08 p.m.
Jeremy Hunt meets the leader of the 1922 committee
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt today met Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the powerful 1922 committee of Conservative backbenchers.
Treasury sources confirmed the meeting, saying it was a briefing ahead of Mr Hunt’s appearance in 1922 on Wednesday.
It comes after Sir Graham met Liz Truss on Monday, a meeting the No 10 said was ‘pre-planned’ and in which his lack of support from Tory MPs likely emerged.
More than 100 MPs are said to be ready to submit letters of censure to Sir Graham in a bid to oust the Prime Minister.
Liam JamesOctober 18, 2022 9:25 p.m.
What is 55 Tufton Street? The house that ‘crashed’ the UK economy
Political activist group Led by Donkeys has gone viral with a new video in which three of its members climb a ladder to place a fake blue plaque outside 55 Tufton Street in Westminster, central London, a house Georgian townhouse home to a number of right-wing think tanks beloved of Liz Truss (Joe Sommerlad writing).
‘The UK economy has collapsed here,’ the memorial sign reads, pointing to the date of September 23, 2022, the day Ms Truss’s now former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng presented his disastrous and no-frills ‘mini budget’ figure, which proposed reckless tax cuts. and heavy borrowing in times of high inflation.
Mr Kwarteng’s budget program – undeniably radical but deeply flawed, as it turned out – was said to have been drawn up with the Prime Minister, a friend and neighbor of the so-called ‘Greenwich ensemble’, but only served to spook global financial markets, forcing Ms Truss into a series of embarrassing policy reversals and the Bank of England to buy up huge amounts of public debt to prop up pension funds.
What is 55 Tufton Street? The house that ‘crashed’ the UK economy
Westminster is home to Tory think tanks targeted by Led By Donkeys over ‘Trussonomics’ failure
Liam JamesOctober 18, 2022 8:58 p.m.
Tory MP says Liz Truss ‘experiment’ failed
Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood said Liz Truss conducted an “experiment” with the economy that failed.
But he said there was a ‘calmer Westminster’ on Tuesday compared to the past few days and weeks as ‘we started to understand again what Tories usually do well’.
The defense committee chairman, who recently had the Tory whip reinstated after he was suspended for missing a vote of confidence in Boris Johnson’s government, said Channel 4 News“There’s no doubt about it, it’s an experiment we conducted with the economy and it didn’t go well. And there is a recognition that now we have to reboot, we have to reset, we have to regroup.
He added: “The mechanic in which we chose our leader, I think, is the central problem that [meant] we ended up where we are today.
“If you just ask our members what direction they want to go, you will get specific answers. And what was clear was that productivity growth has been an issue in the UK since 2008.
“Liz Truss presented a set of measures that were clearly too radical, they did not include an understanding of international headwinds.”
Liam JamesOctober 18, 2022 8:39 p.m.
MPs support buffer zones for abortion clinics
MPs backed proposals to introduce buffer zones around abortion clinics and hospitals in England and Wales.
The House of Commons voted 297 to 110, majority 187, in favor of an amendment to the Public Order Bill to provide greater protection for women by preventing protesters from gathering.
The move, pushed by a cross-party group of MPs, would introduce buffer zones around abortion clinics and hospitals where it would be prohibited to interfere, intimidate or harass women accessing abortion services or people who provide them.
Those found guilty could face up to six months in prison for a first offense or two years for further offences.
A buffer zone would apply to an area within 150 meters of any part of an abortion clinic or an access point to any building or site containing an abortion clinic. MPs were given a free vote on the matter.
Liam JamesOctober 18, 2022 8:20 p.m.
Comments are closed.