I'll lead Tories into next election, says embattled Liz Truss - BBC

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By Chris Mason, political editor & Paul Seddon, political reporter

BBC News

Liz Truss has insisted she will lead the Tories into the next general election, despite U-turns leaving her battling to salvage her authority.

The PM apologised for making mistakes, after the new chancellor Jeremy Hunt junked almost all of her tax-cutting plans to stabilise market turmoil.

She added her month-old premiership "hasn't been perfect," but she had "fixed" mistakes.

And she said it would have been "irresponsible" not to change course.

In an interview with the BBC, she said she was still committed to boosting UK economic growth, but acknowledged it would now take longer to achieve.

"I remain committed to the vision, but we will have to deliver that in a different way," she said.

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• What are the rules for replacing a prime minister?

It comes after a dramatic day at Westminster, after Mr Hunt announced that nearly all the tax cuts announced at last month's mini-budget would be scrapped.

The decision has been welcomed by investors, but has left Ms Truss's economic agenda in tatters only weeks into her time in No 10.

Prime Minister Apologises for Mistakes

Liz Truss told the BBC's Chris Mason she was "sorry for the mistakes that have been made".

Watch now on BBC iPlayer (UK Only)

In her interview, Ms Truss said she accepted responsibility for going "too far, too fast" - and she wanted to "say sorry for the mistakes that have been made".

She added that she remained committed to a "low tax, high growth economy" - but preserving economic stability was now the "priority".

"I do think it is the mark of an honest politician who does say 'yes, I've made a mistake. I've addressed that mistake. And now we need to deliver for people'.

"It would have been completely irresponsible for me not to act in the national interest in the way I have."

Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament

Ms Truss watched on silently as Mr Hunt delivered a Commons statement to explain to MPs why the economic strategy, outlined last month by Kwasi Kwarteng, was being torn up.

The chancellor warned that "decisions of eye-watering difficulty" on tax and spending remain ahead of an economic statement on 31 October, when he will give further details of a plan to reduce the UK's debt burden.

He said further windfall taxes on energy companies - a policy repeatedly rubbished by Ms Truss during her Tory leadership campaign - could not be ruled out, along with changes to the pension triple lock.

Ms Truss refused a Labour request to explain the U-turns to MPs herself before Mr Hunt's statement, with Commons leader Penny Mordaunt saying the PM had been "detained on urgent business". The prime minister later arrived in the Commons taking her seat beside Mr Hunt before he began his statement.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the PM of leaving an "utter vacuum" in government, while one of his MPs jibed she had been "cowering under a desk".

In total, £32bn of the £45bn in tax cuts announced at last month's mini-budget have now been ditched, including plans to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 19p from April.

Cuts to dividend taxes and VAT-free shopping for international tourists have also been scrapped, along with a freeze on alcohol duty rates.

Leadership threats

The government's energy support package, a policy repeatedly championed by Ms Truss in defence of her premiership, will also be scaled back after six months.

The reversals have prompted some Tory MPs to talk privately about how Ms Truss could be ejected from office, despite party rules preventing a formal leadership challenge for a year.

Tactics reportedly under consideration include submitting no-confidence letters in a bid to force party bosses into a rule change, or changing the rules to allow MPs to bypass party members and pick a new leader themselves.

Liberal Democrats leader Ed Davey called for a general election, telling the BBC "the damage has already been done" by the mini-budget.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves echoed calls for Ms Truss's removal, telling BBC Breakfast the "only thing left from the prime minister's plan is higher mortgage rates and higher bonuses for bankers".

Ms Reeves said Labour would fund a longer running energy bill support package by scrapping non-dom status.

• How might Tory MPs get rid of Liz Truss?
• Watch the full interview now on BBC iPlayer

Defence Minister James Heappey said the public "will not indulge the Conservative Party tearing itself apart" with another change of leadership.

"We have seen over the past three or four weeks what the economic price of political instability has been," Mr Heappey added.

There appears to be little agreement over who should take over from Ms Truss if she is removed.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has quashed rumours that he could replace Ms Truss should she resign.

Speaking to the Times, he said he will be holding on to his current job and accused Tory MPs of playing "political parlour games".

Five of the PM's own MPs have called publicly on her to resign, with others briefing journalists that they think her time in office is up.

Ms Truss has been holding meetings with her cabinet ministers and backbench MPs as she tries to reassure her party of her grip on power.

She also met Sir Graham Brady, who chairs the committee that decides the Tory party rulebook.

The committee's treasurer has confirmed a rule change is possible, but suggested "probably 60-70%" of the party's MPs would have to support the move.

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2022-10-18 07:51:45Z
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Liz Truss under pressure as three Tory MPs publicly call for her to quit - and Labour demand she faces parliament - Sky News

Labour has called for Liz Truss to face parliament today after three Tory MPs broke ranks to demand that she quits.

The prime minister is facing calls to resign from within her own party just six weeks after entering Number 10, following the economic turmoil in the wake of the mini-budget.

Tory MPs Crispin Blunt, Andrew Bridgen and Jamie Wallis have all publicly stated they believe she should resign, as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Ms Truss of being "in office but not in power".

The Daily Mail reported that Tory MPs will try to oust Ms Truss this week, with more than 100 ready to submit letters of no confidence.

It comes after the PM dramatically ditched a major chunk of the mini-budget and sacked Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor, replacing him with Jeremy Hunt, in a bid to restore credibility.

The new chancellor has signalled that the country could be facing a package of tax rises and spending cuts, in a move that would make a complete reversal of Ms Truss's promised economic vision.

Read more: Who could replace Liz Truss as PM if she is ousted?

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Friday saw Ms Truss give a brief news conference to explain her latest U-turn, but Sir Keir said it "completely failed to answer any of the questions the public has".

He said: "Mortgages are rising and the cost of living crisis is being felt ever more acutely. The Conservative government is currently the biggest threat to the security and the finances of families across the country.

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"That's why the prime minister must come to parliament on Monday, to explain what she plans to do to turn the situation around.

"If the prime minister won't take questions from journalists, Liz Truss must at least take them from MPs representing the families whose livelihoods she's putting at risk."

MPs believe it is simply not sustainable for Truss to remain as PM

I was told by a cabinet source Liz Truss had no option but to sack Kwasi Kwarteng because it was made clear to her he'd lost the confidence of markets and her only hope of steadying the ship was removing him.

But what follows from that is obvious: as a second cabinet source put it to me over weekend, what the markets do it coming few days will be critical for Truss too.

The firewall provided by the chancellor is now burnt through and if there's no improvement, the signal will be that the is problem is her.

Politically the view settling amongst MPs is that it's simply not sustainable for her to remain as prime minister.

All eyes are now on Sir Graham Brady, the only person who knows when a leadership election has been triggered, to see what he does. Party rules say Truss has a year's grace, but they can change the rules.

But there's also a view, shared by some Truss rivals and backers alike, that the PM has bought a bit of time.

As one cabinet minister told me: "Despite the hysteria, the reality is we need to calm down, let Liz decide her new priorities and Jeremy deliver his budget. Nothing will be gained in the next 14 days by more fratricide."

But the point is, as Conservative Home's Paul Goodman put it, it's over for Liz Truss whether she's pushed out or not.

Her economic project is finished and her authority is gone. And that makes if very hard to see how she can lead the party into a general election.

I’ll be watching the markets and Sir Graham very closely on Monday.

If the prime minister does not agree to make a statement later, Labour could try to force her to come to the Commons.

'The game is up'

Ms Truss and the new chancellor met in Chequers on Sunday, as the pair begin work on what will effectively be a new budget on 31 October.

But Mr Blunt, who was the first Tory MP to publicly call for Ms Truss to resign, said "the game is up" for the prime minister.

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1:33

'Blindingly obvious Liz Truss must go'

He told Sky News it was "blindingly obvious" that Ms Truss had to go and backed former chancellor Rishi Sunak to replace her.

"The principal emotions of people watching her, doing her best to present, is some combination of pity, contempt or anger," he said.

"I'm afraid it just won't wash and we need to make a change."

Read more: Hunt is now an all-powerful back seat driver, MPs believe - analysis

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen also called for Ms Truss to quit as PM, saying "our country, its people and our party deserve better".

Meanwhile, Conservative MP Jamie Wallis tweeted: "In recent weeks, I have watched as the government has undermined Britain's economic credibility and fractured our party irreparably. Enough is enough.

"I have written to the prime minister to ask her to stand down as she no longer holds the confidence of this country."

However Ms Truss received the backing of her former leadership rival Penny Mordaunt who said the "country needs stability, not a soap opera".

Writing in the Telegraph, the leader of the Commons told her colleagues that the "national mission" is clear but said it "needs pragmatism and teamwork".

"It needs us to work with the prime minister and her new chancellor. It needs all of us," she wrote.

Could Tory Party change rules to oust Truss?

Asked how the party could get rid of Ms Truss, Mr Blunt, who is standing down at the next election, said: "If there is such a weight of opinion in the parliamentary party that we have to have a change, then it will be effected."

The former justice minister later added: "If the issue does have to be forced, a way can be found to force it."

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Under current Conservative Party rules, a confidence vote in a leader cannot take place until they have been in power for at least a year, so she is theoretically safe until next September.

However, there has been talk among MPs of the powerful 1922 backbench committee of Tory MPs of changing the rules to reduce that buffer period.

If enough MPs submit no confidence letters in the PM, then the 1922 executive may have little choice but to change them.

The committee's treasurer, Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, told Sky News the rules would only be changed if "an overwhelming majority of the party wish us to do that".

Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries said bypassing the rules in a bid to remove Ms Truss would make the system a "laughing stock".

She tweeted: "The '22 rules were put in place to act as a barrier against the regicidal nature of Conservative MPs.

"What is the point of the '22 committee if the rules mean absolutely nothing?

"It's a laughing stock and not fit for purpose if it makes it up as it goes along!"

Former chancellor George Osborne has predicted Ms Truss is unlikely to still be in Downing Street by Christmas.

He called her a "PINO - prime minister in name only" and said Ms Truss is "hiding in Number 10" as pressure mounts.

To register your interest and share your story, please email TheGreatDebate@sky.uk

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2022-10-17 00:53:32Z
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Met Police chief Sir Mark Rowley says hundreds of officers should be sacked for breaking the law and committing misconduct - Sky News

Scotland Yard's commissioner wants to get rid of hundreds of officers and staff he says are guilty of crimes and unethical conduct.

A report has branded the Metropolitan Police's internal misconduct system slow and ineffective and said too many repeat offenders were being allowed to keep their jobs.

One officer had faced 11 misconduct hearings over sexual harassment, assault, fraud and other allegations. Some cases were proved, others dismissed, but they were dealt with individually; he wasn't fired and he's still serving in the Met.

Sir Mark Rowley said: "We've been slacking a bit, removing less than one a week, maybe 40 or 50 a year. Based on this report, which clearly says that we have been far too soft, there must be hundreds in the organisation I need to get rid of.

"Some of them are unethical and don't deserve to be a cop and don't deserve to wear the uniform. And some of what they're doing is in many cases criminal."

The report found 1,263 staff were involved in two or more disciplinary cases, more than 500 were involved in three to five, and 41 were involved in six or more.

The commissioner said current police regulations meant it was difficult to sack some officers who he was forced to keep on. The Home Office promised to review the rules and hinted it could introduce new laws.

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The report's author, Baroness Louise Casey, said the Met's misconduct system was too slow, with cases taking an average 400 days to resolve. She also described it as racist and misogynist.

"The evidence around racial disparity in the Metropolitan Police's misconduct system is so great, and so shocking, that even in 2021 81% of black staff and officers are more likely to be in the misconduct system than their white counterparts is truly awful," she said.

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"What I'm saying is the internal misconduct system is an example of what I would call institutional racism."

She said a rule that allowed probationers to be sacked more easily was not being used fairly, with black officers 126% more likely than white recruits to be subject to what is known as Regulation 13. Asian officers were 123% more likely that white to be fired.

Image: Wayne Couzens, who was a serving Met officer, is serving a life sentence for the murder of Sarah Everard

Dame Louise was asked earlier this year, by Sir Mark's predecessor Dame Cressida Dick, to review the Met's culture and standards of behaviour in the wake of a series of scandals: the murder, by a serving officer Wayne Couzens, of marketing executive Sarah Everard, the photographing of the bodies of two murdered sisters and the swapping of racist and misogynist text messages by officers at Charing Cross police station.

This interim report looked at the force's misconduct system because it was considered the most urgent part of her brief.

She said that too many complaints from colleagues about other colleagues were being dismissed without action, leaving staff feeling that "nothing happens". Accusations of sexual misbehaviour were less likely to be followed up than some others.

Dame Louise said in an official letter to Sir Mark: "The misconduct system is not delivering in a way that you, I, your officers or the public would expect it to."

Image: Sir Mark Rowley

In his reply Sir Mark said: "The evidence is clear: the disproportionate way in which you have showed us black and Asian officers and staff have been treated shows patterns of unacceptable discrimination that clearly amount to systemic bias.

"The fact that allegations of racism or sexual misconduct and misogyny have less chance of being upheld is also completely unacceptable. Furthermore, it is clear that the Met's systems and processes don't support the right outcomes.

"You uncover painful experiences from those within our ranks who have suffered discrimination and hate from colleagues, only to have their hurt compounded by a weak response from the organisation. This cannot continue.

"I am sorry to those we have let down: both the public and our honest and dedicated officers. The public deserves a better Met, and so do our good people who strive every day to make a positive difference to Londoners."

Dame Louise's full review is expected to be published in the New Year.

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2022-10-16 23:04:50Z
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Home Secretary to crack down on disruptive protests with new bill - BBC

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By Matt Murphy

BBC News

The home secretary has unveiled plans for a major crackdown on disruptive protests carried out by environmental groups such as Extinction Rebellion.

Suella Braverman says the new Public Order Bill will stop demonstrators holding the public "to ransom".

Ministers will be empowered to block protests causing "serious disruption" to key infrastructure and goods.

Activists said they would not be intimidated by law changes aimed at "silencing non-violent people".

Environmental groups including Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion have staged various protests and demonstrations in recent months, causing disruption to commuters and traffic in central London.

More than 350 Just Stop Oil protesters - demanding halts to all new oil and gas licences and consents - have been arrested in London since the start of October, according to Home Office figures.

The home secretary described one incident which saw emergency fire crews unable to get through a junction in Knightsbridge as "indefensible".

Ms Braverman has long expressed opposition to such protests, telling the Conservative Party conference earlier this month there was "not a human right to vandalise property".

She will use the Public Order Bill to allow secretaries of state to apply for injunctions in the "public interest" where protests are causing or threatening "serious disruption or a serious adverse impact on public safety".

The new legislation - which will be put to MPs next week - will also see jail sentences of up to six months or unlimited fines for protesters accused of "locking-on" to people, objects or buildings - a favoured tactic of climate demonstrators.

Home Office officials said the proposed legislation would create a new criminal offence of interfering with infrastructure, such as oil refineries, airports and railways, carrying sentences of up to 12 months in prison.

Meanwhile, tunnelling under infrastructure to cause damage will also now carry a maximum penalty of up to three years in prison, and police will be given new powers to take a more "proactive" approach to some protests.

• Met using full powers against protesters, force says
• Climate protesters deny damaging Van Gough frame
• A quick guide to the new home secretary

"Preventing our emergency services from reaching those who desperately need them is indefensible, hideously selfish and in no way in the public interest," Ms Braverman said on Saturday.

"The police need strengthened and tougher powers to match the rise in self-defeating protest tactics and that's what the Public Order Bill will do."

Responding, Just Stop Oil said: "We will not be intimidated by changes to the law, we will not be stopped by injunctions sought to silence non-violent people. Our supporters understand that these are irrelevant when set against mass starvation, slaughter, the loss of our rights, freedoms and communities.

"Stand with our supporters in prison, with the 1,700 murdered across the global, for protecting our futures. We will not die silently, it will be ordinary people, like you, your friends, colleagues and neighbours who do what our government cannot."

Earlier this year the government suffered a major defeat in the House of Lords, after peers rejected similar plans to clamp down on noisy and disruptive protests.

Opposition members described the plans - tabled by then Justice Secretary Dominic Raab - as "oppressive" and "plain nasty".

Labour peer Lord Hain - a former Northern Ireland secretary - called the move "the biggest threat to the right to dissent and the right to protest in my lifetime", adding that it would have "throttled" protests by the suffragettes.

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2022-10-15 23:05:38Z
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Leeds fire: Emergency crews tackle city centre blaze - BBC

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Fire crews in Leeds are tackling a large blaze in a city centre building.

The fire broke out on the top floors of a derelict high-rise building in Cookridge Street, near the city's Millennium Square, at about 19:50 BST.

A number of nearby pubs and restaurants were evacuated, the fire service said.

Ten fire engines are working to extinguish the blaze and a safety cordon has been put in place as the fire service said the structure is "potentially unsafe".

@samiscalm

Student, Will Dunaway, 18, said he had just left a restaurant on nearby Oxford Place with his family when he saw the fire.

"Whatever it was that was on fire it looked like it was the top part that was on fire, the bottom part looked pretty intact.

"There was a lot of crackling and some explosions, like a popping sound.

"Nobody appeared to be in any danger as far as I could tell."

West Yorkshire Fire Service said the police, ambulance service and a specialist response team are also on the scene.

At the scene - Tom Airey, BBC Yorkshire

It's a busy Saturday night in central Leeds, with the nearby 02 Academy bustling with people for the annual Live at Leeds music festival.

Millennium Square has been taken over by fire engines, with police tape blocking off several streets.

The area smells strongly of burning plastics, with a hose on an aerial platform dousing flames in a building next to Leeds City Museum.

@samiscalm

@drpntl

Leeds City Council leader James Lewis said the fire was in the Leonardo building, a former council property sold to developers which currently lies empty.

He said he understood the fire service now had the blaze under control and had managed to contain it so that it did not spread to neighbouring buildings.

"I'm hugely thankful for the quick response from the fire service, they stopped it becoming a much more serious and destructive fire.

"I'm sure it was very worrying for people nearby.

"Certainly it's a very serious incident and had the fire service not reacted so quickly, it could have been much more devastating," he said.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.

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2022-10-15 21:42:53Z
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Jeremy Hunt says Liz Truss went 'too far, too fast' on UK tax cuts - Financial Times

The UK’s new chancellor Jeremy Hunt has admitted that Liz Truss’s government went “too far, too fast” in last month’s “mini” Budget and that in the near future taxes will have to rise and spending will have to be cut in order to regain economic credibility.

In a statement on Saturday evening Hunt said the government had to be “honest with people” and “take some very difficult decisions both on spending and on tax to get debt falling”. He pledged that “the top of our minds when making these decisions will be how to protect and help struggling families, businesses and people”.

“My focus is on growth underpinned by stability,” he said. “The drive on growing the economy is right . . . but we went too far, too fast.”

The new chancellor’s remarks came the day after the prime minister failed to reassure markets by U-turning on corporation tax cuts and sacking Hunt’s predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng.

Some media reports on Saturday suggested that Hunt was set to reverse another measure in the “mini” Budget by delaying the 1p cut in the basic rate of income tax until 2024. But Treasury insiders insisted that no decisions had been taken. One official said: “Nothing is off the table but nothing has been decided.”

In interviews earlier on Saturday, Hunt buried the idea that growth could be achieved by cutting taxes. The medium-term fiscal plan which the Treasury is due to produce on October 31 will now “pretty much” be a full Budget, he told ITV.

Also on Saturday, Andrew Bailey, governor of the Bank of England, welcomed the government’s U-turn on raising the corporation tax rate, saying he valued the “sustainability of fiscal policy”.

“I have spoken to Jeremy Hunt yesterday and there was a clear meeting of minds on the importance of stability and fiscal sustainability,” Bailey said, adding that the U-turn on corporation tax was “an important measure” in that regard.

But he added that in his view the government’s energy price guarantee “will add to demand and add to inflationary pressures” in the UK.

Highlighting the need for Hunt to demonstrate sustainable finances, he said that having the government’s fiscal statement at the end of the month was the “correct sequence” before the BoE’s next interest rate decision, due on November 3.

Bailey warned that the central bank was inclined to impose a large increase in interest rates in response to Truss and Hunt’s fiscal policies, even if they show a greater desire to bring debt down as a share of national income.

“We will not hesitate to raise interest rates to meet the inflation target. And, as things stand today, my best guess is that inflationary pressures will require a stronger response than we perhaps thought in August,” Bailey said.

He refused to predict how the measures taken were likely to be interpreted by financial markets when they reopen on Monday.

Gilt markets were hit by a fresh sell-off on Friday afternoon after an abrupt eight-minute Downing Street press conference by Truss. Whitehall is braced for further turbulence in the coming week.

One senior official said: “What Liz did is clearly not enough, there’s going to be more U-turns and more pain ahead. I don’t think they’ve clocked yet that it could be about to get even worse.”

Although Truss had instructed Hunt that there would be no further U-turns on the policies Kwarteng announced last month, the new chancellor told the BBC on Saturday that he would be “completely honest with the country” about the crisis and that spending cuts would be required.

Hunt declined to say whether households’ benefits would be uprated in line with inflation. He said: “I am very sensitive to the needs of people right at the bottom of the income scale and I’m not going to make that commitment within hours of taking on this job.”

The chancellor told Sky News the government “won’t have the speed of tax cuts” it hoped for, but insisted there would be no return to major levels of austerity. “I don’t think we’re talking about austerity in the way we had it in 2010,” he said.

One cabinet minister questioned whether Hunt’s pledge was credible. “I don’t see how any major package of cuts gets through the Commons. If MPs won’t vote for it, it’s not credible and the markets will reject it,” he said.

Hunt criticised Kwarteng for two major “mistakes”, saying it was “wrong” to cut the top rate of 45p income tax and to “fly blind” without full costings from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The chancellor said both measures were “being put right”.

Any more government U-turns are likely to further imperil the prime minister’s position. Some senior MPs predicted she would struggle to survive the current crisis.

One veteran MP said: “There is no point to her project or premiership now, it feels like it is already over.”

Another senior Tory MP predicted that letters of no confidence in Truss would reach “a critical point in the very near future” that would force Sir Graham Brady, chair of the 1922 committee of backbench MPs, to act.

The Times reported that Kwarteng believes Truss has just “a few weeks” left as prime minister.

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2022-10-15 21:30:11Z
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UK police charge two women after soup thrown at van Gogh's 'Sunflowers' - Reuters UK

LONDON, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Two women have been charged with criminal damage after climate change protesters threw soup over Vincent van Gogh’s painting "Sunflowers" at London's National Gallery, British police said on Saturday.

A video posted by the Just Stop Oil campaign group, which has been holding protests for the last two weeks in the British capital, showed two of its activists on Friday throwing tins of Heinz tomato soup over the painting, one of five versions on display in museums and galleries around the world.

The gallery said the incident had caused minor damage to the frame but the painting was unharmed. It later went back on display.

Police said two women, aged 21 and 20, would appear later at Westminster Magistrates’ Court charged with "criminal damage to the frame of van Gogh’s Sunflowers painting".

Another activist will also appear in court accused of damaging the sign outside the New Scotland Yard police headquarters in central London.

Police said in total 28 people had been arrested during protests on Friday.

Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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2022-10-15 08:07:00Z
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