After apologizing for her “mistakes” and being humiliated at abandoning her economic programme, British Prime Minister Liz Truss must prove she has the ability to stay at Downing Street on Tuesday.
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“In office but not in power,” headlines the Chron on Tuesday. “Humiliated,” writes the left-leaning tabloid The Mirror.
Tax cuts promised by newly appointed Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt on Monday have brought some semblance of calm to financial markets.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday welcomed announcements that “demonstrate” the (UK government’s) commitment to fiscal discipline and help better coordinate fiscal and monetary policies in the fight against inflation”.
But on a political level, Liz Truss emerges from the episode with her authority torn, forced to adopt policies she has until recently rejected, as unpopular as a British leader has rarely been and openly contested by part of his majority after only six years weeks in office.
“It’s hard to imagine a more serious political and economic crisis,” says the conservative Daily Telegraph, which wonders if its majority, in bad shape after 12 years in power, “are willing to give it a break.” treat”.
Popularity at half mast
After three days of silence during which Jeremy Hunt impersonated the man responsible, Liz Truss admitted to BBC on Monday night that she had made “mistakes”.
The Conservative Prime Minister vowed to “fix it”, said she was “sorry” and assured that despite disastrous polls against the Labor opposition, she wants to remain in office to campaign for the next general election, which is due in are scheduled for two years.
According to the YouGov institute, one in ten Britons has a positive opinion of the Prime Minister. For Conservative Party voters, that percentage rises to only 20%.
And 55% of the members of this political formation believe that Liz Truss should resign, while 38% want her to remain in her post. A third would like Boris Johnson to return to power.
The unveiling in late September of plans for massive tax cuts and colossal support to deal with energy bills had raised fears of a slide in public accounts.
The pound had fallen to an all-time low and long-term government bond yields had skyrocketed. The Bank of England had to intervene to prevent the situation from escalating into a financial crisis.
Although some calm has returned, investors remain nervous: after a strong rebound on Monday, the pound weakened again slightly on Tuesday while government debt rates rose. And Brits, already facing an historic decline in their purchasing power, are already paying for the pot of higher-priced mortgages and pension funds to manage their ailing pensions.
“Unsustainable Position”
“So much damage has already been done,” said Labour’s finance manager Rachel Reeves, saying an apology is not enough. The leader of that party, Keir Starmer, judged that the government now has “no economic policy” after “ripping down” projects announced at the end of September.
But in the near future, Liz Truss will need to win the trust of her own party, where calls for her resignation have multiplied. On Wednesday, a first major political test awaits him with his weekly question-and-answer session in Parliament.
“His position is untenable,” MP Charles Walker said. This situation “can only be corrected with a new Prime Minister”.
With Liz Truss refusing to step down and with no apparent replacement, it’s not easy for the Tories to oust her. Ben Wallace, the defense secretary seen as a possible successor, and the new Treasury secretary, Jeremy Hunt, have said they are not interested.
“His Own Funeral”
Monday was like a crossroads for Liz Truss.
Jeremy Hunt announced that he would abandon “almost all” of the fiscal measures announced by his predecessor.
Liz Truss then sent Secretary Penny Mordaunt, in charge of relations with Parliament, to respond to opposition in the House of Commons. Then she sat silently in Westminster with her face closed.
“It was horrifying to watch,” writes the Times. “Liz Truss was like a mourner at her own funeral,” according to The Sun.