Liz Truss on verge of major U-turn on real-terms benefits cut

A food bank. New research by the Legatum Institute has shown that Liz Truss’s plan could push an extra 450,000 people into poverty. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Liz Truss is teetering on the edge of performing another big U-turn as Tory MPs warned she would lose a vote on delivering a real-terms cut to benefits while new research showed the move could push an extra 450,000 people into poverty.

Despite desperate pleas for party unity from senior ministers after weeks of bitter infighting, the row over welfare threatened to overshadow the prime minister’s attempt to reassert her authority when the Commons returns from recess on Tuesday.