Truss and Kwarteng Given More Than £16,000 Each after Leaving Office

THE GUARDIAN: Severance pay for former PM and chancellor equal to about £400 for every day they held roles, accounts show

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham last October. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng received about £400 in severance pay for every day they were in office, according to government accounts published on Thursday.

The former prime minister and former chancellor each received more than £16,000 on leaving their jobs after just a few weeks, the Treasury’s annual report shows, while Tom Scholar, the department’s most senior civil servant, received £457,000 after being sacked by Truss.

The figures are contained in a series of annual reports from across government, which also show that Boris Johnson was given a payout of £18,660 after quitting as prime minister. » | Kiran Stacey, Political correspondent | Thursday, July 20, 2023

The formula for determining the pay-outs is simple: The bigger the cock-up, the bigger the pay-out! It’s always good to reward talent. – © Mark Alexander

Mini-budget an ‘International Embarrassment’ Says NatWest Boss

THE GUARDIAN: UK’s reputation ‘scarred’, Howard Davies tells staff, as he also warns of government plans to boost competitiveness

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng at the Conservative party conference in October 2022. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
The chairman of NatWest has told staff he “never felt so embarrassed internationally” as he did at the International Monetary Fund meeting in the wake of the UK’s disastrous mini-budget, as he warned about government plans to boost the competitiveness of City firms.

Sir Howard Davies told hundreds of employees at NatWest – which is still 48% owned by the state – that ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s package of unfunded tax cuts for the wealthy in late September, which triggered a market meltdown, caused “quite a significant problem” and “scarring” of the UK’s reputation, according to a recording reviewed by the Guardian. » | Kalyeena Makortoff, Banking correspondent | Tuesday, December 6, 2022

Donations to Tory party slump 40% in three months: Just under £3m collected from July to September, as Labour takes more for first time in over a year with £4.7m »

Michael Lambert: The Disastrous Incompetence of Truss and Kwarteng

You can support Michael Lambert by buying his book here. It's a satrical look at Brexit.

How ‘Knives of the Long Night’ Led to Brutally Swift Kwarteng Sacking

THE GUARDIAN: The chancellor was dispatched soon after touching down, but Tory colleagues were not convinced that was enough to save the PM


Kwasi Kwarteng sacked: how his last 24 hours as chancellor unravelled – video
As the clock reached closer to midnight, Kwasi Kwarteng finished deliberating about heading home from Washington DC to attempt to save his political career.

He eventually boarded the final flight back to London, but when he reached Downing Street 12 hours later, he was sacked as chancellor on the spot. The “knives of the long night” episode, as it is now called, took place with brutal swiftness.

It was the culmination of a chaotic week in Westminster, which saw furious calls for an overhaul of Truss and Kwarteng’s mini-budget while her premiership teetered on the brink.

The mood of Tory MPs was already toxic, given their party conference in Birmingham had been plagued by a series of U-turns and blue-on-blue attacks. But to test the feeling of the public, Kwarteng did a walkabout through his leafy constituency of Spelthorne, in Surrey, last Friday.

While passing an estate agent, he waved through the window and stopped when a woman inside got up, seemingly to greet him. Instead, she is said to have come to the window, made an obscene gesture and told the chancellor he was a disgrace. » | Aubrey Allegretti, Jessica Elgot and Pippa Crerar | Friday, October 14, 2022

Jeremy Hunt Replaces Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor of the Exchequer

"The Prime Minister is now the prisoner of the markets."

Jeremy Hunt will be the fourth chancellor of the exchequer in four months, and will have 'total authority over the Prime Minister.'

Former Treasury minister, David Gauke tells Ruth Davidson what the market reaction has been to an expected u-turn on last month's mini-budget.


Liz Truss appoints Jeremy Hunt as chancellor after sacking Kwarteng: Former leadership contender is back in cabinet as PM tries to reach out to other sections of Tory party »

Was that it? Eight-minute Liz Truss press conference will not steady ship: Prime minister took only four questions but showed lack of contrition in lightning fast appearance that will not have secured goodwill »

Four bruising questions but even fewer answers from Liz Truss: She picked favoured reporters and offered repetitious platitudes to pointed inquiries. How long can PM last? »

Three weeks of chaos that cost more than Kwarteng’s job – in numbers: On 30 September, the then chancellor’s mini-budget triggered a chain of events that led to a dramatic downfall »

Liz Truss Sacks Kwasi Kwarteng ahead of Corporation Tax U-turn

THE GUARDIAN: Chancellor shares letter saying he has accepted prime minister’s request for him ‘to stand aside’

In the letter, Kwarteng argues that the plan to rapidly cut taxes was the correct one despite the turbulent market reaction. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
Kwasi Kwarteng has announced that he has been sacked as chancellor by Liz Truss as the prime minister tries to restore her political authority ahead of a U-turn on parts of her disastrous mini-budget later on Friday.

In a tweeted letter to Truss, Kwarteng began: “You have asked me to stand aside as chancellor. I have accepted.”

Earlier, Downing Street sources had told the Guardian the prime minister wanted Kwarteng to “carry the can” over her climbdown as she sought to calm the markets and the nerves of jittery Tory MPs.

Truss met Kwarteng, previously her closest political ally and co-architect of her plan for growth, for crisis talks in Downing Street after he dashed back overnight from an International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington DC. » | Pippa Crerar and Rowena Mason | Friday, October 14, 2022

Good riddance! Now we need to get the bean counter to resign. I suggest she return to her kitchen and bake some cookies. That will give her plenty of time to think about her future.

When you employ people to do jobs they are not up to doing, to do jobs they are ill-qualified for, this is what you get: chaos and turmoil! The Tory Party is suffering from burn-out. Keir Starmer wants to “make Brexit work”. The problem is that nobody will ever be able to make Brexit work. Brexit is unworkable: it is impoverishing, divisive, and stupid, especially in a geopolitical world of giants.

The only pro-Europe party we have now is the Liberal Democrats, but its leader, Ed Davey, is strangely silent. He should be writing a manifesto for the upcoming general election, offering the electorate a chance to vote to re-enter the EU. The voters need to be given the option of reversing course. They can see now that Brexit is making Britain weaker, poorer and largely ungovernable. If the powers-that-be really want to keep the UK united, then the only way forward, as I see it, is for the country to ask our friends in Europe if they will accept us truculent enfants terribles back into the European family. Next time, I’m sure that the Europeans will be able to get a promise out of us that we will behave ourselves. – © Mark Alexander

Scottish Tory Leader Gets Laughed At in Awful Question Time Appearance

Douglas Ross had a rough time on Question Time, getting slated by the panel and audience for trying to defend Liz Truss' government.

I have stated on this blog many times before that I think that the Conservative Party needs to go the way of the Whigs: into extinction! What they have done to this country, especially with and since Brexit is totally and utterly unforgiveable. We should never have been brought out of the European Union. Nobody in his right mind would walk away from the biggest single market in the world: The Single Market. One has to have sawdust for brains to believe that such an act of self-harm could lead to economic success.

As a result of Brexit, this country’s economy is forecast to shrink year on year for the next ten years. So what is this poppycock Liz Truss is talking about wanting “growth, growth, growth”? If she truly had wanted growth, she would never have changed her politics from being a Remainer to being a Brexiteer. Clearly, she did that for one reason only: for self-advancement.

She spouts extreme-right dogma about economic growth, the neoliberal idea that by making the already mega-rich richer still, economic growth will be stimulated. And then, by some miracle, some wonder, it will trickle down to the ‘little people’. That is balderdash: economic make-believe! Voodoo economics if you will.

So here we have it: an ex-bean-counter, an accountant, as a prime minister and a practitioner of voodoo economics as her chancellor. The results are plain to see; and will go down in the history books under the title, Tory Folly.

Let us hope that one day soon, this country will have a forward-looking, business-friendly, Europe-friendly party that will be capable of making this country prosperous and equitable. A party that understands that the economy must work for the many, not just the super-privileged few. © Mark Alexander

Professor Tim Wilson: Kwasi Is Hurrying Back and Liz Is Trying to Save Her Sinking Ship

Oh dear oh dear

Brilliant, Prof! This cloud does have a silver lining though: This catastrophe has exposed the erroneous notion that only the Conservatives know how to handle the economy, only the Conservatives can be trusted with the running of the economy for the BIG lie that it is. – © Mark Alexander

IMF Criticises Kwarteng Again over Tax Cuts and Energy Package

THE GUARDIAN: Fund says chancellor’s measures have made Bank of England’s battle against inflation more difficult

Kwasi Kwarteng has come under fresh fire from the International Monetary Fund after the Washington-based organisation said his tax cuts and energy support package had made the Bank of England’s battle against inflation more difficult.

The IMF used its prestigious world economic outlook (WEO) to criticise the scale of the stimulus provided by the chancellor and the blanket nature of the price cap on gas and electricity bills.

It said the UK was on course for a sizeable slowdown in growth from 3.6% this year to 0.3% in 2023 but said its forecasts had been made before Kwarteng delivered his mini-budget on 23 September. » | Larry Elliott in Washington | Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Professor Tim Wilson: Kwarteng and Truss Have Cheated the Nation

If thee are plans we can see them now- we don’t need to wait till the end of the month! Personally I do not think these plans exist.

Wirtschaftspolitik wie von gestern schadet nur

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Mehrere europäische Länder orientieren sich im 21. Jahrhundert an historischen Ideen, die aus der Zeit gefallen sind. Das verursacht schwere Schäden – auch in Deutschland.

Vor zwei Wochen geriet Großbritannien unversehens in eine schwere Währungskrise. Nach der Ankündigung des größten Entlastungspakets seit fünf Jahrzehnten fiel der Wechselkurs des Pfunds gegenüber dem Dollar auf seinen niedrigsten Stand in der Geschichte. Die Nachricht, die Steuersenkungen sollten überwiegend mit Staatsschulden finanziert werden, ließ die Renditen britischer Staatsanleihen kräftig steigen. Der Internationale Währungsfonds warnte vor verheerenden Folgen. „Solche Dinge geschehen normalerweise in einem Entwicklungsland, aber nicht in einem Mitglied der G-7-Gruppe“, sagte Mohamed El-Erian, ein erfahrener Berater des Versicherungskonzerns Allianz, gegenüber der BBC. Der neuen Premierministerin Liz Truss drohte eine Revolte aus den eigenen Reihen.

London bekam die Krise mühsam in den Griff. Zuerst kündigte die Bank of England Stützungskäufe für den Anleihemarkt an, obgleich sie nicht zu einer Politik der Inflationsbekämpfung passen. Dann nahm die Regierung in einer peinlichen Kehrtwende einen Teil der angekündigten Steuersenkungen zurück. Das Pfund erholte sich, und die Renditen der Anleihen fielen wieder ein Stück. Ob die Krise damit dauerhaft überwunden ist, lässt sich noch nicht beurteilen. » | Von Gerald Braunberger | Sonntag, 9. Oktober 2022

Truth To Power: Truss and Kwarteng Are Merely Useful Idiots.

Now that the ringmaster, Boris Johnson, has gone - in the Tory circus, the lions are eating the clowns.

As the UK economy faces economic collapse, and the devaluation of the British pound exacerbates the cost-of-living crisis, Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng are being chewed up and will soon be spat out. They have no mandate from the parliamentary Conservative Party, let alone from the electorate at large. They are merely useful idiots, funded and instructed by libertarian organisations with opaque funding, generally headquartered in Tufton Street, conveniently situated near the Houses of parliament. These are the same dark money lobby groups that brought you Brexit, the ERG, Boris Johnson and now the Truss - Kwarteng tragi-comedy.

Liz Truss Shows Off Her Incompetence with a Pathetic Speech to Conference

In her speech to a room full of the party faithful at the Conservative Party Conference, Liz Truss talked nonsense for 25 minutes about how she will resolve all problems by pursuing growth in the economy without giving any idea how that might be achieved in a fast-declining and severely-damaged economy.

She talked of how the new Health Secretary, Theresa Coffey, will solve all problems in the NHS and about how Suella Braverman , the new Home Secretary, will pursue her cruel 'dream and obsession' by sending asylum seekers to Rwanda where they will be abandoned.

She also introduced a new slogan, ‘the anti-growth coalition' which appears to include just about everyone who is not a Tory supporter


You can support Michael Lambert by buying his recently-published book, A Satirical History of Brexit here.

Liz Truss: The Oligarch’s Prime Minister | George Monbiot

Welcome to Oligarch Island


You can donate to DDN here.

I wouldn't trust Truss further than I could throw her, nor that quasi chancellor. Kick them out of office asap! – © Mark Alexander

Tax U-turn Wins Truss Some Time but Damage to Credibility Remains

THE GUARDIAN: PM said she was prepared to make unpopular decisions – but then buckled, so now she will be seen as both unpopular and wrong

It was seen as electoral suicide to cut taxes for the rich, and a succession of bad polls for the Tories bore that view out. Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA
ANALYSIS
So it turns out the lady was for turning, after all. Just hours after Liz Truss declared on national television that she would stand by her controversial plan to scrap the 45p top tax rate, she dumped it.

The decision came in crisis talks with her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, late on Sunday night, after the prime minister spent the evening touring fringe events at the Tory party conference.

It was clear to anybody with even an ounce of political foresight that the U-turn was inevitable. Rebellious Tory MPs, led by former cabinet minister Michael Gove, had made it clear they would vote against the 45p rate cut, undeterred by threats to strip them of the whip.

They warned of the “un-Conservative” risk of using borrowed money to fund tax cuts and the broader fiscal turbulence unleashed by the uncertainty around the mini-budget. The Tories, they feared, had permanently broken the link with economic competence.

But it was the politics that caused the deepest unease. At a time when people are struggling with the costs of living, and the government is planning further public spending cuts, focusing on welfare, it was seen as electoral suicide to cut taxes for the rich. A succession of bad polls for the Tories bore that view out. » | Pippa Crerar, Political editor | Monday, October 3, 2022

Liz Truss Abandons Plan to Scrap 45p Top Rate of Income Tax amid Tory Revolt

THE GUARDIAN: Government makes U-turn over proposal to abolish top-rate tax cut after growing backlash over mini-budget

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng on Sunday, the first day of the Conservative party conference in Birmingham. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images
Liz Truss’s government has abandoned its plan to abolish the 45% top rate of income tax in a humiliating U-turn, after a growing Conservative revolt over the policy and a turbulent reaction from markets.

Announcing the decision in an early morning tweet on Monday, Kwasi Kwarteng said: “We get it, and we have listened.”

The chancellor said the decision to cut tax for people on incomes of £150,000 or more “has become a distraction from our overriding mission to tackle the challenges facing our country”.

He continued: “As a result, I’m announcing we are not proceeding with the abolition of the 45p tax rate.”

But in a round of broadcast interviews hours before he was due to address the Conservative conference in Birmingham, Kwarteng denied his mini-budget 10 days ago had been a mistake, despite its impact on the pound and on the cost of government debt, which in turn has made mortgages more expensive. » | Peter Walker and Virginia Harrison | Monday, October 3, 2022

I should damn well think so too! Giving tax cuts to the superrich at a time when so many people are suffering, having to go to foodbanks to feed their children and many having to choose between heating and eating, would have been totally and utterly unconscionable. – © Mark Alexander

Cost of Living Crisis Worsens in UK; Liz Truss's Approval Ratings Plunge | World News | WION

It has been barely a month since Liz Truss took over the reins from Boris Johnson as the UK’s Prime Minister and it seems that she is already facing a major crisis. According to the Observer poll, the approval ratings of Liz Truss and the Tories have plunged.

Kwasi Kwarteng ‘Attended Champagne Party with Financiers on Mini-budget Day’

THE GUARDIAN: Guests, which included hedge fund managers, allegedly congratulated the chancellor and told him to ‘double down’

Two sources said Kwarteng described the day of the mini-budget announcement as a ‘great day for freedom’. Photograph: BBC News
Kwasi Kwarteng reportedly attended a private champagne reception with hedge fund managers at the home of a Conservative donor on the same day he delivered his mini-budget.

The chancellor is alleged to have given guests information about forthcoming government spending cuts during the event at the west London home of Andrew Law, a financier, on the evening of Friday 23 September.

Kwarteng’s mini-budget earlier in the day, which introduced a £45bn package of tax cuts that will mostly benefit the richest fifth of households, triggered economic turmoil – with sterling collapsing to its lowest level since 1985 and the Bank of England acting to save pension funds.

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, has called for the recall of parliament to address the financial crisis. » | Nadeem Badshah | Sunday, October 2, 2022

Voters Abandon Tories as Faith in Economic Competence Dives

THE OBSERVER: Conservative MPs urge Liz Truss’s removal from No 10 after poll reveals British public’s fury over tax plans

Liz Truss on Saturday: she showed no sign of backing down over £45bn in unfunded tax cuts.Photograph: Alberto Pezzali/AP
Three-quarters of UK voters, including a staggering 71% of those who backed the Conservatives at the last general election, believe the prime minister, Liz Truss, and the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, have “lost control” of the economy, according to a devastating poll for the Observer on the eve of the Tory conference.

The survey by Opinium – which also reveals that Labour has extended its lead by a massive 14 percentage points in the last week alone, from 5 points to 19 points, and that Truss’s ratings are now lower than Boris Johnson’s at the height of the Partygate scandal – comes as some Tory MPs are beginning to demand the new prime minister’s removal from No 10 after less than a month in office.
Other senior party figures are warning that the damage to the party’s reputation for economic management resulting from Kwarteng’s tax-cutting budget, is so serious that it will take many years to repair. » | Toby Helm & Michael Savage | Saturday, October 1, 2022

Kwasi Kwarteng: An Eton Tough Nut with Legendary Self-confidence

THE GUARDIAN: Stories of the under-fire chancellor’s self-assurance abound. Colleagues see him as unlikely to back down without a fight

Kwasi Kwarteng ‘was never remotely interested in other people’s point of view’, said a former minister. Photograph: Michael Mayhew/Sportsphoto/Allstar
In recent years, Bill Gates held a roundtable discussion to which Kwasi Kwarteng was invited as a senior minister.

The billionaire was hosting the meeting, surrounded by high-profile guests. But according to observers, when Kwarteng turned up, he began to act as if he was the one in charge of the meeting “offering his opinion on everything” and “lecturing” Gates about the businessman’s own expert subject. It was “bizarre and embarrassing” to watch, according to one person with knowledge of the episode.

A tendency to arrogance – but also undoubted cleverness – is a common theme that many people who have worked with the new chancellor seem to report. This was the case even among fellow Tories, before he angered them with his politically and economically explosive mini-budget.

One former cabinet minister who worked with Kwarteng as business secretary described him as having “the concentration span of a gnat” and an inability to sit through anything other than very short meetings. “He was never remotely interested in other people’s point of view,” the former minister said.

“I found him very odd to deal with … but there is an intellectual arrogance about Kwasi and Liz [Truss] and Jacob [Rees-Mogg] and those four to five people at the top. They genuinely do think they are cleverer than anyone else and that other people’s views are slightly tiresome.” » | Rowena Mason and Aubrey Allegretti | Saturday, October 1, 2022