Senior Tories have warned that their party will suffer dire electoral consequences under a Liz Truss premiership that fails to address the cost of living crisis, as Labour enjoys a poll bounce suggesting Keir Starmer could be on course for No 10.
Amid signs of mounting panic among high-ranking Conservatives about Truss’s economic policies, several former cabinet ministers told the Observer on Saturday the party would suffer devastating losses in blue and red wall seats unless Truss changes tack, if and when she enters No 10.
After Michael Gove described Truss’s plan to focus on cutting taxes as a “holiday from reality” and announced he was supporting Rishi Sunak, the latest Opinium poll for the Observer gives Labour and its leader a double poll boost, days after he backed a complete freeze on energy bills this autumn. Labour now enjoys its biggest Opinium poll lead in months – eight points – while Starmer has surged well ahead of Truss in the past two weeks when voters are asked who would be the best prime minister. » | Toby Helm, Observer political editor “ | Saturday, August 20, 2022
This woman, Liz Truss, is economically illiterate. That we should even be contemplating entrusting her with the keys to Number 10 is a sad indictment of the British political system. For this cipher to wish to pursue Thatcherite policies at this time of national crisis shows me, and should show you, that she has lost the plot! The very last thng this country needs right now is more Thatcherite policies! It is an overdose of Thatcherism that has helped to land us all in this parlous state we now find ourselves in. For God's sake, don't give that woman the keys to Number 10. Doing so will be the path to this country's ruin. It will also help accelrate this country's place on the list of Third World countries. To borrow Thatcher's well-worn turn of phrase: "No! No! No!" Further, to add insult to injury, that voice of hers! Well! It's bad enough to turn the milk sour! – © Mark Alexander
