A GROUP of “serious” senior Tories are set to publicly call for Prime Minister Liz Truss to resign, according to BBC reports.
It comes after Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked as chancellor, with Truss to host a press conference outlining big changes to the disastrous mini budget on Friday afternoon.
Kwarteng returned from an IMF meeting in Washington DC for crisis talks with the PM, where it is understood that he was removed from his role upon arriving in Downing Street.
It is now expected that Truss will U-turn on her proposed cancellation of an increase to corporation tax, just weeks after she changed course on plans to cut tax for the richest people in the UK.
Amid market turmoil – which has seen rocketing interest rates on mortgages, the decline of the pound and a big rise in the cost of government borrowing – Tories are also apparently plotting to oust her behind the scenes.
However, under current 1922 Committee rules Truss cannot be removed through a no-confidence vote until she has been in office for 12 months. She only became PM last month.
Nicholas Watt, the political editor of BBC’s Newsnight, reported on Friday morning that pressure will increase even further on the Conservative chief in the coming days.
He tweeted: “A group of senior Tories have been holding discussions + have decided the following: the sacking of @KwasiKwarteng will prompt them to come out publicly next week + call on @trussliz to resign. My source: ‘These are serious people. The PM will find it difficult to survive.’”
He went on: “My source tells me Liz Truss has made a mistake if she thinks her (outgoing) friend @KwasiKwarteng has no base in the parliamentary party. “People like Kwasi. He is friendly. He’s honest. Maybe a bit too honest. Maybe that’s his problem.”
More to follow
