Liz Truss news latest: Gove denies being ‘rebel leader’ after saying tax cut plans ‘not Conservative’

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Liz Truss blames poor communication for market chaos after mini-Budget

Former cabinet minister Michael Gove has refused to say whether he would vote with the government on the borrowing-fuelled tax cuts – attacking them as “not Conservative”.

Repeatedly challenged on whether he would vote with Labor, Mr Gove said: “I don’t believe it [tax cut plan] is right.”

He told the Chopper’s Politics podcast that Kwasi Kwarteng’s package of unfunded tax cuts was “worrying”.

Speaking at a live recording of the podcast at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, he said: “My worry is that we are betting too much on tax cuts when we are borrowing to pay for them. That is not conservative in my view.

“My other worry is if you are going to make tax changes, a 45p cut that will benefit millionaires but not ordinary people is not the right priority at this point.”

Asked if he was now a “rebel leader”, Mr Gove replied: “No. I’m just a backbencher.”

It comes as the prime minister admitted she should have “laid the ground” better about the government’s mini-Budget which triggered the dramatic market turmoil.

Key PointsShow latest update 1664718635Jacob Rees-Mogg booed loudly by protestors in Birmingham

Jacob Rees-Mogg was booed loudly by hundreds of protesters in Birmingham.

The business secretary was escorted by several police officers as he walked across Victoria Square, where demonstrators had gathered to vent their anger at the government as the Tory conference gets under way in the city.

The crowd pursued him, jeering and booing, with some shouting “Tory scum”.

Demonstrators furious at Liz Truss’s economic plan are carrying signs reading “unelected, unaccountable, unhinged” and “wages up, bills down, Tories out”.

(Getty Images)

Maryam Zakir-Hussain2 October 2022 14:50

1664716835Tory MPs told they will lose whip if they vote against Budget – as Gove refuses to say he’ll back it

Conservative MPs who vote against the Liz Truss government’s plan for tax cuts will lose the whip, the party chairman Jake Berry has said.

Some Tory MPs are considering whether to vote with Labor to stop mini-Budget measures announced by chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, particularly the axing of the 45p top rate of income tax.

Asked on Sky News whether this would result in them losing the party whip and being suspended, Mr Berry said, “Yes” – before urging despairing MPs to unite behind Ms Truss.

Tory MPs told they will lose whip if they vote against Budget

Michael Gove ‘profoundly’ worried by Truss plan – as Tory chair threatens rebels with suspension

Maryam Zakir-Hussain2 October 2022 14:20

1664715200Gove says chancellor’s tax cuts is ‘worrying’ as he insists he’s not a ‘rebel leader’

Former cabinet minister Michael Gove told the Chopper’s Politics podcast that Kwasi Kwarteng’s package of unfunded tax cuts was “worrying”.

Speaking at a live recording of the podcast at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, Mr Gove said that the scale of the £45bn giveaway was a “contributory followed factor” in the market chaos which.

“The conservative approach is to make sure we have tax cuts that can be paid for,” he said.

“My worry is that we are betting too much on tax cuts when we are borrowing to pay for them. That is not conservative in my view. My other worry is if you are going to make tax changes, a 45p cut that will benefit millionaires but not ordinary people is not the right priority at this point.”

Asked if he was now a “rebel leader”, Mr Gove replied: “No. I’m just a backbencher.”

He refused to say whether he would vote with the government on the 45p tax cut.

But asked if Ms Truss should U-turn on the measure, he replied: “Yes. I think the 40 to 45p tax cut is wrong.”

The measure was “neither the right economic nor political response to the situation we face at the moment”, he said. “If a mistake has been made the right thing to do is to acknowledge that and to correct course.”

Maryam Zakir-Hussain2 October 2022 13:53

1664713236Minister claims upside from weak pound for shops serving high-spending US tourists

A senior member of Liz Truss’s government has said that the fall in the value of the pound is “not all bad”, claiming it has led to a surge in US tourists coming to Britain and spending on luxury goods.

Sterling plummeted to an all-time low of $1.03 against the US dollar in the wake of last week’s poorly-received, though it has since rallied to $1.12 after the Bank of England poured £65bn in to stabilise markets.

But it remains almost 30 per cent down on its value of $1.42 in the spring of 2021 and around 35 per cent down on its pre-Brexit peak of $1.71 in 2014.

Our political editor Andrew Woodcock has more:

Minister claims upside from weak pound as US tourists spend more

Exclusive: Plunging value of sterling ‘not all bad’, says member of Truss team

Maryam Zakir-Hussain2 October 2022 13:20

1664711436Senior Tory MP says Truss needs to quickly regain public’s confidence

Senior Conservative MP Mel Stride has said Liz Truss needs to quickly regain the confidence of the public and of the markets if she is to lead the party into the next general election.

Mr Stride, the chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee, said the party will be in “hugely difficult waters” if that does not happen.

Asked on Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday program about Ms Truss’s prospects of leading the party into the election, he said: “For that to happen I think it is fair to say that we have to fairly quickly move to a place where the polls are beginning to turn around, where the markets are feeling the Government is behaving fiscally responsibly and they are gaining in confidence, the pressure on the pound is being released somewhat and bond yields are not soaring off.”

Mr Stride criticizing Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget, saying: “I do think there are some very difficult optics, at the very least, around having the 45p rate (of tax) abolished and then seeking reductions, for example, in the welfare. ”

Maryam Zakir-Hussain2 October 2022 12:50

1664709636Nadine Dorries accuses Liz Truss of ‘throwing Kwasi Kwarteng under bus’ over tax cuts

Liz Truss has been accused of throwing chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng “under a bus” by saying the decision to cut income tax for the richest was made by him and not Cabinet.

Nadine Dorries, the former culture secretary who backed Ms Truss to be prime minister, criticizing her remarks made on the first day of the Tory conference in Birmingham.

The plans to abolish the 45 per cent tax rate on incomes above £150,000 a year has caused anger during the cost-of-living crisis, even among some Conservative MPs.

Nadine Dorries accuses Liz Truss of ‘throwing Kwasi Kwarteng under bus’ over tax cuts

Prime minister provokes fresh row at start of Tory conference

Maryam Zakir-Hussain2 October 2022 12:20

1664707836On Laura Kuenssberg’s show, Liz Truss gave a Johnsonian masterclass in the unbelievable

“There is just one overriding reason why the Conservative Party begins its 2022 conference with a different leader from the year before.

“And that reason is because its previous leader publicly claimed on many occasions not to have been aware of the existence of a cheese and wine party he personally attended,” Tom Peck writes.

“It’s not simple that similar behavior adjacent to this was deemed by the Metropolitan Police to have been a criminal offence. That sort of thing you can probably ride out. The problem was that his own MPs calculated that the public had concluded that they could no longer believe a single word that exited the man’s lips, and that therefore it would be impossible for him to win a general election.”

Opinion: On Kuenssberg’s show, Truss gave a masterclass in the unbelievable

Perhaps most depressingly, the prime minister has not come up with anything better since the world’s worst media round on Thursday morning

Maryam Zakir-Hussain2 October 2022 11:50

1664706315Tory party chairman says champagne reception was ‘not a get together of hedge fund managers’

Conservative party chairman Jake Berry was questioned on the champagne reception attended by the chancellor and hedge fund managers following the announcement of the mini-budget.

Jake Berry told Sky News: “It wasn’t a get together of hedge fund managers it was Britain’s leading entrepreneurs, yes I was there.”

Maryam Zakir-Hussain2 October 2022 11:25

1664704515Polls will look ‘very different’ closer to election, says Tory chair

Tory chair Jake Berry shrugged off huge Labor leads in recent polls, saying they would look “very different” closer to the election, most likely in 2024.

The Tory chairman also claimed it was “nonsense” to say the tax cuts are helping the rich most. Shown a Resolution Foundation graph making clear that higher earners benefitted most from the government’s plans, Mr Berry said he could not see the image .

“I would go back and say what we are doing for every household in this country is ensuring that they get a cut in their tax bill next month,” Mr Berry added.

Mr Berry did not rule out significant spending cuts on Sunday, but refused to be drawn on specific policies. “I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that the public sector should look at its expenses in the same way that every single household is doing in this country.”

Maryam Zakir-Hussain2 October 2022 10:55

1664703315Tory MPs told they will lose whip if they vote against Budget – as Gove refuses to say he’ll back it

Conservative MPs who vote against the Liz Truss government’s plan for tax cuts will lose the whip, the party chairman Jake Berry has said.

Some Tory MPs are considering whether to vote with Labor to stop mini-Budget measures announced by chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, particularly the axing of the 45p top rate of income tax.

Asked on Sky News whether this would result in them losing the party whip and being suspended, Mr Berry said, “Yes” – before urging despairing MPs to unite behind Ms Truss.

Politics writer Adam Forrest reports:

Tory MPs told they will lose whip if they vote against Budget

Michael Gove ‘profoundly’ worried by Liz Truss plan – as Tory chairman threatens rebels with suspension

Maryam Zakir-Hussain2 October 2022 10:35

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