Cost of living fears grow as inflation returns to 40-year high - BBC

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By Kevin Peachey

Cost of living correspondent

The rate at which prices rose in September has returned to a 40-year high as a BBC survey uncovers growing concern about the squeeze on finances.

The price of cereals, milk and cheese all went up along with energy bills and transport costs.

Some 85% of those asked are now worried about the rising cost of living, up from 69% in a similar poll in January.

As a result, nine in 10 people are trying to save money by delaying putting the heating on.

The rising cost of food, fuel and energy dominate fears about rising costs, the survey of 4,132 shows.

Almost half of people (47%) polled in the Savanta Comres survey for the BBC said that energy bills were the most significant increase in cost seen by their household.

Nearly nine in 10 of those asked were turning lights off to save money in the last week, as well as turning electrical goods off standby.

The survey was conducted earlier this month before Chancellor Jeremy Hunt reversed some tax cuts, said support on energy bills would be limited for some, and warned of further government spending cuts.

But more than half of those polled (56%) expect their financial position to worsen in the next six months. It was 30% in January.

Two-thirds of renters who were asked said it had been difficult to pay for essential costs in the last six months. A similar proportion of everyone surveyed said that government support was insufficient to help people with the rising cost of living.

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The cost of living rose by 10.1% in the 12 months to September - the fastest rate in 40 years - driven by sharp price rises in energy and food costs.

Food and energy prices have been going up around the world following Russia's invasion of Ukraine which has disrupted production and exports, as well as pushing up prices at supermarket tills.

September's inflation figures are usually used to calculate next April's rise in the state pension in the UK and the increase in some benefits. It is unclear if the government still intends to stick to this policy or cut down on spending by increasing payments by a lower level by linking the increase to wages instead.

Over half (52%) of UK adults say it has already been difficult for their household to pay essential household costs in the last six months.

People are changing their spending habits to help them cope, cutting back on clothes spending for themselves and their children, taking fewer day trips as well as travelling less to meet up with family or friends, the BBC survey shows.

People are also putting off big purchases such as buying a new car, sofa or TV or renovating their homes.

Among UK adults worried about the cost of living, two thirds have also said this is having a negative effect on their mental health.

In Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's emergency announcement on Monday to cut back government spending, the help to limit energy bills rises for households was cut back from two years to six months.

The Treasury will review support given from April, but Mr Hunt said there would be "a new approach" targeting those in the most need.

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A spokesman for the Treasury said the government had reversed the rise in National Insurance and made changes to help people on universal credit.

"Countries around the world are facing rising costs, driven by Putin's illegal war in Ukraine, and we know this is affecting people here in the UK," he said.

"That is why we have taken decisive actions to hold down bills this winter through the Energy Price Guarantee and provided at least £1,200 of additional cost-of-living support to eight million of the most vulnerable households."

What is your experience of the cost of living crisis? What are your questions about it? Email your stories and questions to: haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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Make Sense of Food Prices

Find out why food prices are also on the rise.

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2022-10-19 09:42:34Z
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PMQs is a huge test for a prime minister trying to survive from one day to the next - Sky News

It's a sign of how bad things are for the new prime minister that only her third Prime Minister's Questions is being billed as a potentially defining moment in her short premiership.

MPs tell me that how Liz Truss performs at the despatch box against Sir Keir Starmer at their weekly joust will be an acid test for the prime minister put on notice by her party.

Having dodged questions on Friday when she reversed key planks of her economic plan, and then left it to her new chancellor to complete the mini-Budget and two-year energy support plan reversal, this PMQs will be a moment of reckoning.

Truss under pressure: Latest live updates

Many of her party doubt she can meet the moment and think a poor performance will again reignite calls for her go.

For the Opposition this a "moment of jeopardy" to exploit, according to a senior Labour source.

"On the Labour side looking across you can see a PM's authority draining away - as we saw with Johnson.

More on Liz Truss

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"I'm sure sets of electrodes are being handed to MPs to bounce up and down in support of the prime minister.

"But it will be a big moment, and isn't just about exchanges with Keir Starmer, the most damaging stuff can come from their own side."

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We saw that back in January when David Davis, the former cabinet minister, used PMQs to publicly call on Mr Johnson to resign. And just moments before that happened Bury South MP Christian Wakeford crossed the floor of the House, defecting from the Conservatives to Labour in another body blow for an embattled prime minister.

Mr Johnson clung on for another six months in a rolling political and leadership crisis, finally being pushed out from Downing Street after dozens of ministers quit his government. As he put it in his resignation speech: "When the herd moves it moves."

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1:15

January 2022: Johnson told 'in the name of God, go'

This PMQs will be the latest test of that herd mentality with MPs muttering that she needs to put in a strong showing. She is undoubtedly in deep trouble, with five MPs calling for her publicly to go - although many are privately saying the same.

But if a bad performance is further destabilising, a good performance will now do little to change the fortunes for Ms Truss beyond the immediate moment.

All the talk in Westminster - apart from those cabinet ministers taking to the airwaves to try to shore her up, is about the timing and mechanism for removing and replacing her. The polling around her is disastrous with only one in 10 Britons satisfied with her.

It is the worst polling ever for any leader, from which there is likely no way back. One former cabinet minister told me this week that they thought 90 per cent of the party thought Ms Truss had to go and said Sir Graham Brady will, at some point, have to go to the PM and tell her she no longer has the support of her party and can either stand aside or see a rule change that would force a confidence vote in the PM.

Changing the rules?

What I hear Sir Graham is now working on is a change in the nominations to basically try to force a unity candidate onto the party and avoid a drawn-out run-off in which party members get the final say.

There is talk of setting the nominations bar as perhaps around a third of the parliamentary party - something like 100 or 120 votes. At that level the likely trio with a chance at the top job would be Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt or Penny Mordaunt.

But the aim might be to set the threshold at the level that only one could reach in order to settle the matter quickly, and amongst MPs rather than members, who polling now shows regret their choice of Ms Truss.

If it all sounds ferociously complicated, that's because it is. And it comes back to the point that there is not an obvious unity candidate, while MPs are desperate to avoid a protracted run-off - two reasons helping Mr Truss stay in post.

But even if the herd isn't quite ready to stampede, the outlook is treacherous for the prime minister.

Read more: Which Tory MPs are calling for Truss to go - and how could the PM be ousted?

Her new chancellor told me this week after he had ripped up the mini-Budget and reversed £32bn of tax cuts that there would be "eye-wateringly difficult decisions" to take around spending. That's because he has to fill a fiscal black hole running to perhaps £40bn-£50bn through spending cuts and further tax rises.

One former cabinet minister told me that the cuts Mr Hunt is eyeing will be much bigger than those dealt by former chancellor George Osborne. "They might end up having to do double the amount of cuts than in the austerity years. Jeremy is really worried about it."

Unease over spending cuts

And so he should be. MPs and ministers are already agitating against potential spending cuts, after Mr Hunt on Monday put everything back on the table. He refused in an interview with me on Monday to commit to uprating pension or benefits by inflation or honouring Liz Truss's promise to lift defence spending to 3% of GDP by the end of the decade.

The Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and his deputy James Heappey have suggested they could quit if this pledge is reversed, while two MPs have already publicly said they will not support the government if it attempts to end the pensions triple lock.

"Pensioners should not be paying the price for the cost of living crisis whether caused by the war in Ukraine or mini budgets," wrote Tory MP Maria Caulfield on Twitter last night.

Mr Hunt is also eyeing up additional taxes to raise funds for government coffers. Options include possible windfall taxes on banks and energy companies - again Ms Truss vowed not to introduce an energy windfall tax when she became PM - as a way to help plug the gap.

It goes without saying that all of this is fraught with political difficulty and if the markets decide Mr Hunt can't get his spending cuts through parliament and begin selling off government debt, there could be another bout of market turbulence, with all the potentially fatal fall-out that has for Ms Truss. That fiscal statement, billed for 31 October, really could prove a frightful event.

PMQs is undoubtedly a huge test for the prime minister today whose reputation has been shredded this week. But this is just the first test of many she's going to face. For now, this is a PM and a No 10 just trying to survive from one day to the next.

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2022-10-19 00:31:30Z
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Jeremy Hunt lines up raid on bank profits to help fill £40bn UK fiscal hole - Financial Times

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is preparing to raid the profits of banks and energy companies in an attempt to fill a £40bn fiscal hole through a mix of tax rises and public spending cuts.

Hunt’s Budget on October 31 is due to include big tax rises, with allies of the chancellor saying they expect him to target the earnings of lenders and oil and gas companies. He has spoken of “eye-wateringly difficult” decisions.

The chancellor told a sombre cabinet meeting on Tuesday that ministers would have to exert tight spending control, as he tries to prove to financial markets that he can bring Britain’s deficit under control.

In a sign of cabinet tensions, Ben Wallace, defence secretary, and James Heappey, his deputy, indicated they could quit if Liz Truss, prime minister, reverses a pledge to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of gross domestic product by 2030.

Banks are expected to make bumper profits from rising interest rates, including from reserves held on deposit overnight at the Bank of England, and from bigger margins on lending.

Hunt, who has said he is not opposed “in principle” to windfall taxes, is weighing up the level of tax that should be applied to banks.

Currently they pay an effective UK tax rate on their profits of 27 per cent, comprising corporation tax set at 19 per cent and an 8 per cent bank surcharge.

Hunt confirmed on Monday that corporation tax will rise to 25 per cent next April; he has not yet decided whether to retain the 8 per cent bank surcharge, which would give an effective rate of 33 per cent for the sector.

Treasury officials said the government wants to have a “competitive” tax system, but even if Hunt cut the surcharge to 5 per cent, it would still leave the industry facing an effective rate of 30 per cent.

At that level, the Treasury could hope to raise roughly an additional £500mn per annum from the banks, although the figure would be higher if profits were to rise strongly.

Asked if banks might face higher taxes, the Treasury said: “We can’t comment on specific speculation, however the chancellor and prime minister have been clear that difficult decisions will be required to restore economic stability and no options are off the table.”

John Glen, former City minister, said an effective tax rate of 33 per cent, plus national insurance contributions, would leave Britain as an international “outlier in terms of the overall tax burden”.

David Postings, chief executive of UK Finance, a trade body, urged the government “to consider the [bank] surcharge very carefully and not put at risk the competitiveness of the UK’s banking and finance industry”.

Senior bankers confirmed they expected lenders to record big profits this year, driven by higher interest rates. One big lender said the Treasury had sought its views on the surcharge, but the signs were ominous.

“We thought we were going to receive a little help from the Treasury but that is not looking good,” said one bank executive.

Meanwhile Hunt is likely to extend the government’s windfall tax on oil and gas producers beyond its “sunset clause” in 2025, helping to close the fiscal hole in the next parliament, according to people briefed on his thinking.

The current levy is scheduled to raise at least £28bn over three years before it ends in December 2025. Extending it by two years could raise more than £10bn for the Treasury, but much depends on future energy prices.

Hunt on Tuesday called on his cabinet colleagues to cut spending across their Whitehall departments as the government cast doubt on the future of the pension “triple lock”.

Downing Street said Truss could not promise to keep the arrangement, under which the state pension rises every year in line with whichever is highest out of inflation, earnings growth or 2.5 per cent.

It said the chancellor “made clear public spending would continue to rise overall but departments will continue to be asked to find ways to save taxpayers money”.

Downing Street added the government remained committed to its pledge to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030, but the plan for reaching that target might change.

Video: The Brexit effect: how leaving the EU hit the UK

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2022-10-18 20:01:14Z
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Just Stop Oil protester who blocked Dartford Crossing compares himself to Martin Luther King and the Suffragettes - Sky News

A Just Stop Oil protester who blocked the Dartford Crossing has compared himself and others in the group to Dr Martin Luther King and the Suffragettes.

Morgan Trowland, 39, was one of two demonstrators who attached themselves to the masts of the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge more than 200ft (60m) above the River Thames.

The toll bridge, which connects Essex and Kent, was closed since the pair scaled the structure in the early hours of Monday morning.

Police said on Tuesday they had arrived at the bridge with a "raised platform" to "allow specialists to work at height and continue meaningful engagement with two people".

Image: Morgan Trowland was one of the protesters at the top of the bridge

Around 5pm, a statement from bridge design engineer Mr Trowland and his fellow demonstrator, identified as Marcus, a 33-year-old teacher, said they were ending their protest after they "successfully disrupted oil supplies to Kent and the South East for 36 hours".

The pair, from London, said: "We are stepping down now but other supporters of Just Stop Oil will be stepping up day after day, causing disruption and putting their liberty on the line to demand that the government ends new oil and gas."

The activists have now been removed from the bridge by police and arrested.

Essex Police tweeted that "a decision on how and when to open the road" rests with National Highways.

Speaking to Sky News from the structure before he was brought down, Mr Trowland said: "Many people will get angry about this and I understand that anger.

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"But in other times in history the Suffragettes were widely hated by most of the population. For decades they did much more extreme acts of disobedience.

"Martin Luther King was reviled in America in the early 1960s - sometimes people hate the thing that needs to come next."

Marcus said: "Only direct action will now help to reach the social tipping point we so urgently need."

The closure of the M25 at the crossing caused delays of two hours during rush hour on Monday, with six miles of congestion on the anti-clockwise carriageway and five miles in the opposite direction, National Highways said.

Commuters saw similar disruption on Tuesday morning after the group said the activists would remain on the bridge's masts for as long as possible.

Asked if he was sorry to those affected, Mr Trowland said: "I know it's awful to be disrupted and it's frustrating, but I would ask people disrupted by this to have a thought and empathy for the 33 million people in Pakistan this summer who have been driven out of their homes by floodwaters caused by the climate crisis, caused by our oil and gas, developed here in Britain.

"I'm not sorry for trying to protect the land, my people, I'm not sorry."

Just Stop Oil says it will continue with "non-violent civil disobedience" throughout autumn and winter until the government revokes newly granted oil and gas licences it says are "frankly a death sentence".

'We didn't bring ropes to come down'

Asked earlier when he planned to come down, Mr Trowland added: "We're figuring that out.

"We didn't bring long enough ropes to come down because that would be too heavy."

Essex Police said officers were called shortly before 3.50am on Monday to a report that two people had climbed onto the bridge at the Dartford Crossing.

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1:52

Just Stop Oil 'antagonising people'

In an updated statement on Tuesday afternoon, they said: "I know this situation is incredibly frustrating, but we are doing everything possible to resolve this situation as quickly and as safely as possible.

"We are not in any way anti-protest. However, it is unacceptable for people to think they can put lives in danger and selfishly stop others going about their lives and the public rightly expect us to take action against anyone who believes they can do this - and we will."

Mr Trowland revealed he balanced in a hammock, but almost "bottled it" at the first hurdle.

Image: Traffic stopped at the Dartford Crossing on Monday

"The very first step I almost bottled it. Getting onto the cable… was just terrifying," he said.

On Sunday, members of the campaign group sprayed an Aston Martin showroom with orange paint and a few days earlier threw tomato soup over Van Gogh masterpiece Sunflowers.

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2022-10-18 17:00:35Z
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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.

• UK will pay its way, says Hunt as tax cuts reversed
• Chris Mason: Will PM be given more time?
• 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.

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2022-10-17 00:53:32Z
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