THE GUARDIAN: Truss’s decline from shiny new prime minister to leader in name only continues, the last 24 hours underlining just how weak she is
When it was announced that Penny Mordaunt had offered to stand in for Liz Truss in response to an urgent Commons question over the economic crisis on Monday, some Conservative MPs thought it was a joke.
“Why is she asking one of her biggest rivals for the job to take her place? She’ll totally show her up,” one said. It was hard to see the cabinet minister’s performance on Monday afternoon as anything other than an audition for the top job.
Mordaunt did little to dispel that impression as she landed punchy attacks on the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, roused the depressed Tory troops, and offered an apology to the country for the instability caused by the prime minister’s dramatic climbdown. Truss had done none of these things publicly, though probably should have done all of them.
Nevertheless, it was Truss’s refusal to show up and face MPs herself – despite unleashing chaos on the party, the economy and the country – that most riled MPs. Mordaunt repeatedly assured them there was a “genuine reason” why she was not there. In one particularly bizarre exchange, she insisted: “The prime minister is not under a desk.” » | Pippa Crerar and Aubrey Allegretti | Monday, Octobber 17, 2022
