A FIFTH Tory MP has called for Liz Truss to go after she failed to stand up to scrutiny in the House of Commons for binning her entire economic agenda.
Charles Walker said the Prime Minister must quit after Angela Richardson, Jamie Wallis, Andrew Bridgen, and Crispin Blunt already publicly confirmed she had lost their support.
Walker said her position was not tenable and added: "I'm just so cross. I've had enough."
At Westminster, the SNP demanded to know where the “lame duck” Prime Minister was as she declined to turn up to answer questions from MPs as new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tore up her tax-cutting plans.
The party’s deputy Westminster leader Kirsten Oswald laid bare the contrast between First Minister Nicola Sturgeon setting out a “positive case” for an independent Scotland in Bute House on Monday morning while Hunt U-turned on Truss’s plans just over a month into her premiership.
As he attempted to calm jittery markets, Hunt announced there would have to be major spending cuts across the public sector to support his plans for the economy.
Hunt also confirmed the energy price guarantee – originally pledged for two years – would now only last until April, with a Treasury-led plan to be drawn up on how the UK Government can provide support to families beyond this.
But rather than explain this enormous climbdown to MPs, Truss opted to hand this responsibility to the leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordaunt.
Kirsten Oswald (@kirstenoswald) asks where the Prime Minister is. Penny Mordaunt fails to say. pic.twitter.com/vLylXy3j6C
— The National (@ScotNational) October 17, 2022
The SNP’s economic spokesperson Alison Thewliss later tore into Hunt for his austerity plans, drawing attention to the “little detail” given on where cuts could come from.
Oswald aksed if Truss did not have the backbone to show up, was there any point in her standing at the despatch box again.
“Scotland’s First Minister set out an optimistic and ambitious and credible plan for Scotland’s future,” said Oswald.
“A leader who spent over an hour setting out the positive case for our country’s independence. It’s a very stark contrast to a Prime Minister hiding in Downing Street.
"Can the leader of the House tell us where on earth is the Prime Minister? And if she doesn't even have the backbone to show up here today, is there any point in her showing up here again?"
Mordaunt – who dodged Oswald’s question after earlier saying Truss was busy with “urgent business” – faced a fierce grilling from several Scottish MPs, as Gavin Newlands accused Truss of a “dereliction of duty” by failing to show up for scrutiny.
Richard Thomson also highlighted how Truss had still not been in contact with Sturgeon and asked whether she would be in office long enough to rectify this.
Downing Street said Truss had “wall-to-wall” meetings with Cabinet colleagues and officials, but later found the time to turn up for Hunt's statement before disappearing again just before Thewliss's question.
Thewliss said people would pay the price of the Tories' mini budget “for years to come” and demanded clarity on several points including his austerity agenda, the removal of the cap on bankers’ bonuses and whether he would uprate benefits in line with inflation.
She said: “We’re back where we started, significantly worse off due to Tory incompetence. Isn’t it just as well the Scottish Government didn’t take the advice of Tory MPs to copy and paste before the frontbench deletes all?
“People will be paying the price for this for many years to come through higher interest and borrowing rates. Will he [Hunt] apologise for the increased costs he and his colleagues have inflicted upon people?
“He has not been clear at all, can I confirm the status of the bankers’ bonus caps? Has this been scrapped or not?
“There is little by way of detail from the current chancellor in doubling down on austerity. Where does the current Chancellor expect to make these cuts?
“We already know the terrible price of austerity. Again and again, the Tories bring forward harmful policies they never feel the consequences of.
“Will this current Chancellor commit to uprating benefits in line with inflation? Will he cancel the benefit cap and the two-child limit? Where is his compassion for them?”
Rather than answering Thewliss’s question, Hunt used the opportunity to attack the Scottish Government’s plan for an independent Scotland which he said would be” a recipe for precisely the austerity she [Thewliss] says she is worried about.”
As he attempted to reassure MPs, Hunt said he remained committed to the growth mission but hoped the stream of screeching U-turns would help bring stability in order for that to happen.
He said: "We remain committed to our mission to go for growth, but this requires confidence and stability.
"While we do need realism, we must never fall into the trap of pessimism. There is enormous potential in this country.
"I have genuine optimism about our long-term prospects for growth.”
