She will be addressing Keir Starmer and facing the Labour benches, but at Wednesday’s crunch session of prime minister’s questions Liz Truss will be primarily trying to persuade Conservative MPs not to eject her from No 10, and to reassure the country more widely. Here are five key questions both groups will want answered.
1. Why are you still here?
This goes to the heart of the matter, the political corner into which Truss has painted herself. She stood for leader on an unapologetic platform of slashing taxes and regulations, and enacted this as part of what was billed as an ideological double act with Kwasi Kwarteng. But when it all went wrong, it was the chancellor who was sacked.
Tory MPs and many voters are now wondering what is, precisely, the purpose of Prime Minister Liz Truss. She has abandoned more or less all her stated policy programme and seemingly handed the controls of government to Jeremy Hunt, the new chancellor. On the few times she has emerged from under her metaphorical desk, Truss has communicated the reasons for these changes very poorly. It cannot go on.
2. Why should we trust anything you say?
A follow-on, to an extent from question one. On his media round on Wednesday morning, the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, was put into repeated difficulty by simply having his own words and promises from not so many days ago repeated back at him. Truss faces this same bind, only worse.
This time last week the prime minister was telling MPs that her government would still lower taxes and oversee a real-terms increase in spending. Neither of those are on the table now. Yes, leaders need to adapt to changed circumstances. But this is a U-turn on a scale never before seen in UK politics. Can Tory MPs, let alone voters, believe what is said this time?
3. How can pensioners and those on benefits get through the winter?
Inflation has nudged back above 10%, with food and drink up 15%. Wage inflation is notably lower, with union leaders warning about a wave of strikes, and saying one in seven Britons are skipping meals. Truss can – and probably will – attack what she will call union militancy, but many voters understand and sympathise with the reason behind the action.
For those who are not working, things are even worse. Truss could well face questions from her own side on whether she will ditch the pension triple lock, and Starmer seems likely to quiz her on raising benefits in line with inflation. Simply saying “I can’t tell you yet,” is unlikely to be enough.
4. What about fuel bills?
One of the most-used defences by Truss allies as the tax cuts announced in September’s mini-budget evaporated on contact with market realities was the fact that the biggest fiscal element of Kwarteng’s statement had been two years of relief from rising energy bills for households.
That has now also gone, with Hunt’s seizure of the government programme meaning domestic bills for all will be capped only until April, with any measures targeted after that. How all this will be done remains unknown. Some voters face the renewed possibility of £5,000 annual fuel bills, and will want answers.
5. Why aren’t we having a general election?
Expect Starmer to ask this, and for some Tory MPs to shift uneasily in his seat when he does. Truss’s original policy programme was notably different to that on which Boris Johnson won the 2019 election, and now even that has been junked.
This gives Truss a minimal mandate, and if she is replaced, this would become even thinner. There is a very good reason why the Conservatives almost certainly will not call an election – a 30-point polling deficit tends to focus the mind – but that does not mean they should not.
