Liz Truss is in the last chance saloon as she can’t afford to make “any more mistakes”, a loyal minister who attends her Cabinet admitted today.
James Heappey confessed the Tory party was “skittish” after the Prime Minister finally apologised for the chaos unleashed by her mini-Budget.
It came as a staggering new poll put her personal approval rating at MINUS 70 - lower than was ever sunk by Boris Johnson.
YouGov found just 10% of Brits have a favourable opinion of the Prime Minister while 80% view her unfavourably, including 62% who view her very unfavourably. Keir Starmer has a score of minus 5.
Ms Truss last night vowed to lead the Conservatives into the next election - despite letting Chancellor Jeremy Hunt tear up £32bn of her plans while she sat mute in the Commons.
But Tory MPs have ramped up plotting as ex-minister Grant Shapps suggested members should be cut out of the next leadership race and Liz Truss could be replaced inside a week.
And speaking before attending a Cabinet meeting this morning, Mr Heappey said: “I don’t think there’s the opportunity to make any more mistakes.
“Because the nation needs a government that’s governing well and makes good decisions.”
Armed Forces Minister Mr Heappey said the U-turn was “forced upon her and it took an enormous amount of courage and leadership to recognise that”.
“She has fronted up to her mistake very quickly”, he told Sky News, urging Tories to “knuckle down and get back on with the day job”
But he also said he would quit if new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt - who has warned he will make “eye-wateringly difficult” decisions - U-turned on pledges to raise defence spending.
Mr Heappey said the Government still backs the spending target, but asked if he would quit in the face of a U-turn, he told LBC: "Yeah.
"But no one has said that 3% is not going to happen by 2030."
Jeremy Hunt yesterday refused to rule out scrapping the triple lock on pensions and has not ruled out real-terms cuts to all departments and benefits in his bid to balance the books.
More detail on his plans will be unveiled at the medium-term fiscal plan on October 31 - if the government lasts that long.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Heappey clarified: “If in the very immediate term there is a requirement to look at what we can do to help, the Treasury out that’s a discussion for the Chancellor to have with the Secretary of State.”
It came as a staggering new poll found 40% of Tory members would STILL vote for Liz Truss - despite a poll putting Labour 36 points ahead.
The survey of 500 party members by JL Partners found 60% of those with a view would back Rishi Sunak while 40% would back Liz Truss if another contest was held.
Liz Truss met 1922 Committee chairman Sir Graham Brady - who would run any process to oust her - yesterday and is said to be meeting him again later this week.
Grant Shapps last night said that if a leadership race is triggered, it can't go out to members in a nationwide tour again.
"The country needs governing, if the leader needs changing that needs to be decided by MPs, it would take a week," the ex-minister told Matt Forde's Political Party podcast.
But he stopped short of calling for a change in leadership.
Mr Heappey confirmed the whole Cabinet had backed the doomed Budget plans. He told Times Radio: "It'd be completely disingenuous to claim that on that morning, when the Cabinet was presented with the Mini-Budget, that there was anybody sat around the table who said that it was a bad idea."
Pat McFadden, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: “The frank admission that they all approved the disastrous mini-budget shows the Conservatives have lost all economic credibility. They couldn’t run a bath let alone a major G7 economy."
Tories last night demanded the "men in grey suits" tell Liz Truss she must go as she dumped her doomed mini-Budget in a catastrophic humiliation.
Families last night were told to prepare for a new era of austerity as Mr Hunt threatened to take an axe to the budgets of schools and hospitals - as well as pensions.
He announced yesterday a two-year scheme to cap average energy bills at £2,500-a-year will now last for only six months, meaning typical households will face charges of £4,000 from April.
More than £32billion of Ms Truss’s £45billion unfunded tax cuts bonanza has been cancelled, including a 1p cut to the basic rate of income tax next year.
One of the few surviving measures will be lifting the cap on bankers' bonuses.
The lame duck PM was accused of being "frit" yesterday as she went into hiding to avoid answering questions from angry MPs.
In the Commons, Keir Starmer asked: "Where is the Prime Minister? Hiding away, dodging scrutiny, scared of her own shadow. The lady is not for turning... up."
Penny Mordaunt, who had been sent by Ms Truss to appear in her place, repeatedly declined to say where she was.
In farcical scenes, the Commons Leader insisted “the Prime Minister is not under desk” when taunted about her location.
Faced with accusations that Mr Hunt had seized control of the government from Ms Truss, Ms Mordaunt said: ”I don't think there has been a coup.”
In a meeting of the One Nation Caucus of centre-right Tories, “the Prime Minister said she was sorry for some of the mistakes that have been made over the last few weeks,” her Press Secretary said.
Tory party chairman Jake Berry claimed the meeting of the One Nation Group had been “very supportive”. He said: “The prime minister started by saying mistakes have been made. She acknowledged them.”
But another Tory MP who was at the meeting said: “Mostly you got the impression she'd been drugged.”
The MP added: “She wasn't as bad as I thought she'd be, but my bar is so low that so long as she vaguely answers the question I regard it as a triumph.”
Tory backbencher Simon Hoare demanded a reshuffle, saying: “We had a slight personality cult under Boris Johnson. We don’t want to go into an ideology cult now.”
But the PM’s Press Secretary said: “There’s no plans for any sort of reshuffle.”
