Liz Truss has doubled down on her controversial tax cut agenda, telling Tory rebels she will “do things differently” and that “there is no choice but to change”.
The Prime Minister faces a miserable week at the Tory Party conference after the disastrous reaction to Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax cut mini-budget last month.
But ahead of the official opening of the event in Birmingham, which comes at the end of another tumultuous week for the Conservative Party, Ms Truss said she was sticking to her guns and that the tax cuts were essential to get the economy growing again.
“Change is always something that people can find worrying. But what I’m basically saying is that we have to change, and the status quo is not an option,” he told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
“We cannot continue on the current trajectory of managed decline … We must take a new direction.”
Ms. Truss continued: “Often, I think, people hear that politicians talk, and not necessarily ‘do.’ own money, keeping bills low.
“I campaigned on this basis in the leadership election campaign, I said I would do these things. And I am determined to follow through because I see that this is what will make Britain most successful.”
The Prime Minister has also rejected calls to sack Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng after the pound fell to a record low over his mini-budget, insisting he is doing an “excellent job”.
Kwarteng is facing calls for an official inquiry following a report that he attended a private champagne reception with hedge fund managers profiting from a collapse in sterling following his mini- budget
The Sunday Times reported that he joined the meeting at the Chelsea home of a City financier on the evening of September 23, where he was said to have been “urged” to commit to his £45bn plan of unfunded tax cut pounds.
A source close to the chancellor said: “Any suggestion that those attending had access to inside information is complete nonsense.
“The Growth Plan released Friday included a commitment to overhaul our tax code to make it simpler, better for families and more pro-growth.
“The government’s ambitions to reduce the tax burden are hardly a state secret.”
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2:53 Truss arrives at Tory conference
Ms Truss arrived in Birmingham for the party conference on Saturday looking upbeat just hours before another damaging poll was published.
Hopes of being greeted by an adoring crowd of members have likely been dashed, with some Tory MPs questioning whether he will still be prime minister at the end of the year.
Almost two dozen senior Tory MPs have told Sky News they will not attend after a tumultuous week in which the pound hit a record low against the dollar and the Bank of England intervened to prevent the collapse of pension funds.
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A series of polls this week have shown a massive drop in Conservative popularity and a record low for Labor following the mini-budget.
The latest Opinium poll showed 55% of voters disapprove of both Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng, while Labor enjoyed a 19-point boost.
And 75% of all voters believe they have lost control of the economy. As for Conservative voters, 71% think they don’t have the economy under control, while only 24% think they do.
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Senior MPs told The Independent that the Prime Minister has days to claim the tax and welfare cuts or a rebellion could see them removed from Downing Street by Christmas.
There are reports of letters addressed to the committee chair in 1922 from parliamentarians asking for a vote of no confidence.
Under current rules, he is safe from a leadership challenge for a year after his election, but the 1922 executive could change the rules if demand from Tory MPs is overwhelming.
Truss must reboot if he is to survive
Sam Coates
Deputy political director
@SamCoatesSky
Liz Truss begins her first Conservative Party conference less than a month, 25 days, since she became leader, all the more remarkable given that 11 of those days were spent in official mourning for the death of the Queen.
It is also notable during this time that the government spent more than £160 billion, sterling sank to its lowest level since 1985, the UK is now under threat of a downgrade from the credit rating agencies, the cheaper mortgages have disappeared from the market, the Bank of England has made an emergency intervention to save pension funds and the Tories have recorded their worst opinion poll rating for YouGov since the company was founded in the late 90s.
Everyone – conservative MPs, institutions, voters looking at the coming economic crisis – is anxious.
Ms Truss’s most important job is to show the county and her party whose side she is on.
That is why tonight’s Sunday Times story about its Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is so damaging.
On the day of the mini-budget, where he cut taxes for the wealthiest, he went to a hedge fund party hosted by Conservative donor Andrew Law. There were 30 donors and financiers as he rounded the summit.
I have spoken to someone who has been to events like these recently. They are surprised at how casual Kwarteng is in applying bold and potentially market-moving views around these events, on issues such as Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.
Some in the City worry that these talks will undermine the credibility of the UK’s independent financial institutions, after the OBR and the Treasury’s expertise were already in the firing line. Sloppy speaking costs credibility.
Another difficult moment, one of many.
Many Tories believe Liz Truss must now reboot her party this week to survive.
Ahead of the Conservative Party conference, Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was “unacceptable” that voters and MPs had had no say in the new economic measures announced.
“The economy is not a laboratory experiment for the maddest scientists in the Conservative Party,” the Labor leader wrote in the Sunday Telegraph.
“The pain about to be inflicted on the whole country is the result of a prime minister and chancellor wedded to a disastrous ideology.”
The conference will open today with a tribute to the Queen, but it is Mr Kwarteng’s speech on Monday and Ms Truss’ closing speech on Wednesday that will capture the political attention.