A Cabinet ally of Liz Truss has rejected “ridiculous” fears that the PM has around 10 days to save her premiership, during an extraordinary Conservative Party conference marked by ministerial clashes, U-turns and general chaos in the ranks.
As Ms Truss geared up to deliver a make-or-break address to delegates on Wednesday, former minister Michael Gove was forced to deny leading a “coup” against her, after highly unusual remarks by home secretary Suella Braverman to that effect the previous day.
The prime minister is expected to admit that her economic plans will cause “disruption”, but insist that Britain must “do things differently”, days after spooking traders by reversing a totemic policy to abolish the income tax rate paid by the highest earners – tanking the pound and putting pension funds at risk of collapse.
Rejecting former minister Grant Shapps’ claim that the PM has little more than a week to shore up her position in No 10, foreign secretary James Cleverly hit out at colleagues for trying to “pre-announce” government policy – after ministers risked tearing open a fresh Cabinet rift with contradictory comments on whether to cut universal credit amid the cost-of-living crisis.
