LONDON | Prime Minister Liz Truss was under mounting pressure on Thursday to scrap parts of her contested budget plan, but her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng also in the hot seat ruled out quitting.
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Some Tories are already talking about names to replace Liz Truss, a month after her arrival in Downing Street.
Asked if he and Liz Truss would still be there in a month, the Minister of Finance was categorical Thursday in Washington: “Absolutely, 100%. I’m not going anywhere, ”he told British media, faced with doubts about his future.
He added that he remained “totally focused on putting in place the mini-budget”, the announcement of which on September 23 destabilized the markets and divided his own conservative camp.
In power for 37 days, Liz Truss seems increasingly at an impasse, except to resolve to a new about-face, compared to this “mini-budget” which provides for massive tax cuts without clear funding.
If it stays the course for the moment, Conservative MPs are enjoining it privately to reconsider certain elements of this plan, in particular the cancellation of a planned increase in corporate tax.
According to the Financial Times, discussions were underway Thursday in Downing Street on a possible reversal.
“Tory MPs are sounding out for a possible replacement for Kwasi Kwarteng and possibly even Liz Truss,” Paul Goodman, former MP and editor of ConservativeHome, a highly influential site, told the BBC earlier today. among the British Tories.
“All sorts of names are mentioned,” he added, referring in particular to Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss’s former rival during the campaign for Downing Street.
But Downing Street insisted the executive’s stance ‘has not changed’ and that the prime minister and her finance minister are ‘focused on delivering their plan for growth’.
“Disastrous idea”
The Conservatives’ congress earlier this month had already been marked by internal tensions and dissension.
“MPs circulating a board of names on who should replace Truss are ignoring the fact that they cannot impose on the British public another Prime Minister the public did not vote for,” reacted on Twitter. the former minister Nadine Dorris, support of Liz Truss, thus confirming the existence of this table.
Liz Truss, 47, appointed prime minister on September 6 to replace Boris Johnson, is the fourth Tory leader since 2016.
“Changing leaders would be a politically and economically disastrous idea,” said Foreign Minister James Cleverly, dispatched Thursday morning on several radio and television stations to defend Ms. Truss’s policy.
“Maxi Mayhem”
By presenting the “mini-budget” at the end of September, “it was about ensuring that taxes were lowered for 30 million people and these are very strong messages. I think we absolutely have to stick to it, ”he defended on Sky News as inflation approaches 10% in the country.
After the announcement of these massive tax cuts without clear funding, the markets reacted violently. The pound sterling reached a historic low at the end of September, prompting reactions from the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England.
Former Secretary of State and Conservative MP David Davis denounced the “maxi mess” created by this “mini-budget” and suggested that certain tax cuts be reviewed.
On Thursday, after a meeting with Kwasi Kwarteng, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said that if the evidence points to a “recalibration” of the measures announced, then “it is good for governments to do so”.
During Wednesday’s weekly Prime Minister’s Questions, Ms Truss, booed by the Labor opposition, ruled out cutting public spending to finance her tax cuts, repeating that she was betting on growth to get the country out of the crisis.