There have been reports of a “devastating collapse” in confidence in Liz Truss among her own MPs.
The prime minister’s leadership was in renewed peril as she was accused of “trashing the last 10 years” of the Tories’ record at a bruising meeting with backbenchers last night.
MPs piled pressure on her to restore market confidence in her Government, with reports suggesting she is facing mounting calls to reverse or delay her plan to cancel a rise in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent, due in April.
Truss has insisted this and other tax cuts will boost growth, but the so-far unfunded measures in Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget have sparked chaos in the financial markets.
Conservative former minister David Davis called the mini-budget a “maxi-shambles” and suggested reversing some of the tax cuts would allow Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng to avert leadership challenges for a few months.
“If they do that I think people like Mel Stride and others will come in behind them and they buy some time,” he told ITV’s Peston.
But others were less sure.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Nicholas Watt said there has been a “devastating collapse in confidence” in the PM.
He said a dinner attended by multiple Tory MPs in recent days was dominated by one topic: how to get rid of the PM.
Watch the clip in full below:
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