PRIME Minister Liz Truss is set to abandon plans to impose real-terms benefits cuts in an attempt to stave off a Tory mutiny brewing after just weeks in office.
It comes as senior Conservatives publicly urge Truss to raise benefits in line with inflation, rather than earnings, to avoid exacerbating the cost-of-living crisis with real-terms cuts.
Philippa Stroud, a Tory peer and chief executive of the Legatum Institute, called for an inflation-linked rise in benefits because “you don’t build growth on the back of the poor”.
“The public knows that. They get this sense that there’s something not right in the welfare state at this moment in time,” she told the BBC.
Former chancellor Sajid Javid also told the broadcaster that benefits “must stay in line with inflation”, and called on Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to publish economic forecasts as soon as possible.
Kwarteng was criticised after it came to light that he had turned down the offer from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to provide a detailed forecast of the impact of his “mini-budget” before its delivery.
The Chancellor has said that a forecast from the OBR will not be published until November 23 – despite a first draft having been sent to him on October 7.
There are rumours that Kwarteng (below) could bring his next economic statement forward from that date in late November in order to quell unease at his and Truss’s leadership from within the party.
The Prime Minister and Chancellor are both said to be planning to go on a charm offensive to convince their party’s MPs that they are in control following the chaos that resulted from their decision – now reversed – to abolish the top 45% rate of income tax.
Reports say there is also unrest among the upper echelons of the Tory government at highly personal attacks on the party stalwart Michael Gove. Briefings to the papers branded the former Cabinet minister a “sadist” who has “darkness inside him”.
“We have got to show that we have learnt from the last few weeks. We need to reassure markets and engage more widely,” one member of the Cabinet told the Times.
“Liz and Kwasi will embark on an unprecedented campaign to engage with colleagues and bring them in — they need to feel that they have had their say to be able to sell our plans to their constituents.”
However, another U-turn from Truss could further cement her reputation as "jelly", a word used by one Tory backbencher to describe her government.
Asked about the reports of a planned charm offensive, Government minister Victoria Prentis said the Tory party should move on from “internal squabbling” as the UK faces a “challenging” winter.
Prentis told Times Radio: “All I would say is that I very much backed the other guy over the summer [Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest] and I’m a member of the Government, and I’m pleased to be able to serve in Government.
“That’s very much what we were elected to do. What we need to do is focus a bit less on internal squabbling and a bit more on helping the country through some really difficult times. And to make sure that we make the right decisions as a Government this winter.”
She added: “I now sense that there is a real feeling of the party getting back together.”
Prentis further said the decision on whether to raise benefits in line with inflation or earnings will be announced in November.
She said Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith will consider the latest figures, including average wage figures this week and inflation data next week, before making her decision.
Prentis told Sky News: “She can’t do anything until those figures have come and she will then consider how to, if at all, uprate benefits and what figure to choose. She has a very wide discretion to do that. We make a decision and we communicate it usually by the end of November.
“It’s obviously a really worrying time for people on benefits because they know that inflation is rising. And they want us to make this decision as soon as we possibly can so that they have the security of knowing how their benefits will be next year.”
In a possible hint of her view on the matter, which has caused tensions in the Conservative Party, the North Oxfordshire MP added: “It’s really important that we make sure that we target the government resources at the most vulnerable.”
