Liz Truss may idolise Margaret Thatcher, but the crisis-plagued PM has already proved she’s for turning in her first 41 days in office.
In her brief spell at the helm Ms Truss has unleashed chaos with her disastrous mini-budget, subsequently sacking Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in a desperate effort to save her own skin.
In an embarrassing climbdown, Mr Kwarteng's replacement Jeremy Hunt confirmed that nearly all of the measures announced on September 23 will not go ahead.
Mr Hunt admitted that the PM and his predecessor had gone "too far too fast" as vultures circle around struggling Ms Truss.
As outlined below it is not just on the economy that Ms Truss is prone to a screeching U-turn.
She has junked a series of older Tory pledges like fracking and fast food and ripped up the party's 2019 manifesto.
Not for nothing did Greenpeace activists hold up a banner during her Tory conference speech saying: “Who voted for this?”
We’ve rounded up Liz Truss’s biggest U-turns so far - and the ones that could still be coming down the track.
Already happened
Scaling back support with energy bills
Less than a week ago Liz Truss was gleefully crowing that the Tory plan to limit energy bills would protect billpayers for two years - while Labour's only lasted six months.
So it would have been particularly painful for her to see Mr Hunt roll back on this.
The new Chancellor said the energy price guarantee - which will see the average household pay £2,500 - will now expire in April, when it will be reviewed.
1p income tax cut
Another flagship Truss policy which came crashing down in flames was the plan to reduce the basic rate of tax by 1p.
Mr Hunt this morning said that it would now remain at 20p indefinitely with no timescale for it to hit 19p - not even 2024.
A reduction will only happen when the country can afford it, the Chancellor said in his address.
No public spending cuts
In a leadership campaign which was very light on detail, Ms Truss was very clear on one thing - there would be no public spending cuts.
She told The Mirror in July when questioned on how her tax cuts would be funded: "I'm very clear I'm not planning public spending reductions."
However - you've guessed it - now she's in office the opposite looks to be true. First Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng refused to rule out a return to Tory austerity.
No10 confirmed Whitehall departments will be asked to “look again” at what spending they can cut in the October 31 statement.
Jeremy Hunt - who warned of "difficult decisions" will meet with all Secretaries of State this week to decide on future spending plans which will then be submitted to the Office for Budget Responsibility this Friday.
£10k tax cut for UK’s 660,000 highest earners
Liz Truss scrapped her most divisive tax cut for the rich in the middle of the Tory conference after a furious revolt.
She dropped plans to axe the 45p top rate of Income Tax, a day after saying she was "absolutely committed" to it on national TV.
The cut in tax from 45% to 40% on earnings over £150,000 would have cost £2bn a year, and handed a £10k-a-head average saving annually to 660,000 very wealthy people.
Sacking Kwasi Kwarteng
When Ms Truss was confirmed as leader of the Tory party, her friend and ally Mr Kwarteng was one of her first appointments.
Even as things got rocky, Number 10 insisted that the Chancellor had the PM's full confidence.
But things move fast in politics, and in the face of a massive Tory rebellion, Ms Truss decided to make him carry the can for the economic chaos.
‘Windfall tax’ on electricity generators
Labour accused Liz Truss of a “screeching U-turn” after she finally agreed to cap prices charged by wind farms and nuclear power stations.
Ed Miliband said the Tories had been “dragged kicking and screaming” to introducing a limit on the money that can be made by electricity generators.
Renewable energy generators and nuclear plants will have their revenues capped under a new Government plan to ensure they are not benefitting from record-high energy prices, while oil and gas producers are subject to a windfall tax alongside them.
Ms Truss repeatedly ruled out new windfall taxes previously. While ministers are not calling this plan a windfall tax, Labour believe that's effectively what it will be.
VAT-free shopping for overseas tourists
This might not have been a headline pledge when Mr Kwarteng unveiled the mini-Budget way back on September 23, but it was nevertheless a £2bn-a-year spending commitment.
Following the chaos of the weeks that ensued, it was an easy target for the new Treasury chief.
The government previously said it would give a boost to high streets, with visitors from overseas more likely to spend their cash while in the UK.
But like much of what Mr Kwarteng outlined that fateful day, the policy was buried before it could be adopted.
Freeze on alcohol duty
Brits face paying more for booze as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt scrapped a freeze on alcohol duty.
The changes are set to mean Brits will pay around 7p more, on average, for a pint of beer .
A pint of cider will go up around 4p, a bottle of wine 38p and a bottle of spirits £1.35.
Booze duty was due to be frozen for a year under plans announced by former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in his Mini-Budget on September 23.
Mr Kwarteng's original plan was to freeze tax on booze from February next year.Before Mr Kwarteng stepped in, alcohol tax was due to go up by the retail prices index level of inflation - currently 9.9%.
Relaxation of self-employment rules
Another part of the mini-Budget ditched after Mr Hunt became Chancellor was the easing of tax rules for the self-employed.
The £2bn a year change would have meant self-employed workers would be responsible for determining their own employment status.
This affects workers who have set themselves up as private companies, affecting many who typically work for other businesses but are not on their payrolls.
Under IR35 rules, the business you work for is responsible for deciding your tax status - not the worker.
Only outlining economic plans on November 23
After outrage at his mini-Budget containing no proper economic forecasts, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng promised to deliver them - but only in November.
He said he would present a medium-term fiscal plan, containing further reforms, cuts and forecasts, about two months after his mini-Budget.
In a wobble he said he would bring it forward “shortly”, before then saying he was sticking to the plan, before then moving it all to October 31.
Workers’ rights crackdown within 30 days
The new PM promised to “introduce” a law cracking down on the right to strike within 30 days. It would force “minimum service levels” on “critical national infrastructure”, making workers cross picket lines to keep services running.
But the “primary legislation” - a Bill in Parliament - that she promised in a press release has not yet materialised.
One government source tried to suggest the target had actually been 30 sitting days of Parliament, not 30 calendar days. Hmm.
Is Emmanuel Macron a friend or foe?
During her leadership campaign, Ms Truss created a furore when she said the "jury's out" when asked this question.
It came as news to the French President, who responded that the UK and France had long enjoyed a close relationship.
And after taking office, Ms Truss clarified that the two countries were working together on a range of issues, adding: "He is a friend."
Her chief of staff's employment terms
Just days into her premiership it emerged that Ms Truss's chief of staff, Mark Fullbrook, was being paid via his lobbying firm.
Although Number 10 said that it was not unusual for staff on secondment to have such an arrangement, a shift u-turn followed as the arrangement came under fire.
Downing Street said: "While there are established arrangements for employees to join government on secondment, to avoid speculation Mark Fullbrook will be employed directly by the government on a special adviser contract."
Pay cuts outside London
In the leadership race, Liz Truss abandoned plans for lower wages for public sector staff outside London after a furious backlash.
As part of a "war on waste", she had suggested paying workers less if they live in areas where the cost of living is lower.
The small print of her press release said the idea could eventually save £8.8bn if it were adopted for all public sector workers.
Ms Truss junked the flagship policy only hours after it had been announced, and accused critics of misrepresenting it.
Energy bills ‘handouts’
Liz Truss repeatedly attacked “handouts” as she tried to position herself as the free marketer Tory leadership candidate.
She said: “What I don’t support is taking money off people in tax and then giving it back to them in handouts. That to me is Gordon Brown economics.”
Yet within days of taking office she announced a two-year energy bills handout for all Brits, rich and poor, which will cost £60bn in the first six months alone.
The Energy Price Guarantee - which will cap average bills at £2,500 a year - was widely welcomed, but it flies in the face of what she said previously.
Ironically it has now been U-turned on!
Fracking
The 2019 Tory manifesto pledged not to lift England’s ban on fracking unless it was scientifically shown to be safe.
But Liz Truss's government has lifted the fracking ban, despite the evidence being inconclusive.
Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said the move would help strengthen the UK's energy security "in light of Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine and weaponisation of energy". But Labour described the plans as a "dangerous fantasy" that will "do nothing to cut energy bills ".
Abolishing the monarchy
There was a lot of glee over the summer when footage resurfaced of a teenage Liz Truss passionately arguing for the monarchy to be scrapped.
Ms Truss - who at the time was a Lib Dem party member - told the party conference in 1994: We Liberal Democrats believe in opportunity for all. We do not believe people are born to rule."
However as Tory leadership candidate she distanced herself from the remarks, saying she regretted it as soon as she said it.
To come?
Benefits cut
Boris Johnson had promised to raise benefits by inflation - around 10% - next April.
Liz Truss had mulled U-turning on his pledge and only raising them by earnings of 5.5%. That would be a real-terms cut.
But now she could U-turn on the U-turn, after a furious Tory revolt. Last week Downing Street said the PM is open-minded and listening to concerns, stressing: “No decision has been made”. And Jeremy Hunt emphasised his approach would be compassionate Conservatism.
Trophy hunting
Campaigners fear the Mirror-backed fight to stop hunters bringing their sick souvenirs to the UK has been shelved by Liz Truss ’s Government.
Explorer and animal rights activist Sir Ranulph Fiennes urged the Tories to stick to their pledge to ban trophy hunting imports, saying: “Trophy hunting is one of the greatest abominations ever to have been invented, and we should bow our heads in shame as a human race for its existence."
Ministers have refused to confirm they will press ahead with a ban, despite repeated promises.
Anti-obesity measures
Liz Truss could scrap Boris Johnson’s crackdowns on junk food in a Tory U-turn that campaigners warn would be a “kick in the teeth”.
The Treasury has commissioned an “internal summary” of its anti-obesity measures in a drive to cut red tape in the cost-of-living crisis.
It is likely to examine the pledge to end buy-one-get-one-free and ‘3 for 2’ supermarket deals on unhealthy food and drink in October 2023 - already delayed by a year thanks to Boris Johnson.
It could also review a January 2024 ban on junk food TV ads before the 9pm watershed and online, which was also already delayed.
Smoke-free by 2030 target
Cigar-chomping Therese Coffey has reportedly ditched a plan to help the country go “smoke free” by 2030.
The Health Secretary, when questioned about the alleged U-turn, said she is “not aware” whether the target to get the adult smoking rate down to 5% or under has been axed.
The Government had committed several times to publishing a tobacco control plan by “later this year” but officials reportedly with knowledge of Ms Coffey’s intentions told the Guardian she does not plan to honour that promise.
And finally... a U-turn on a U-turn
Renters reforms and no fault evictions
Liz Truss's government was accused of betraying renters as it emerged it was considering another screeching u-turn.
In June the Tories said landlords would not be able to evict tenants in England without giving a valid reason.
Reports emerged that this plan is set to be shelved under the new Tory leader.
But then Liz Truss told PMQs she would go ahead with the ban on no fault evictions after all.
