Woran Truss scheiterte: Die Tories wissen nicht, was aus Brexit-Britannien werden soll

KOMMENTAR
NEUE ZÜRCHER ZEITUNG: Immerhin: Die Konservative Partei kann in der Not rasch und unsentimental handeln. Nach dem Debakel mit den Premierministern Johnson und Truss bietet sich nun ein erfahrener, pragmatischer Nachfolger an. Das Grundproblem der Partei dürfte aber bleiben.

Liz Truss anerkennt die Realitäten und tritt nach 45 irrwitzigen Tagen an der Spitze der britischen Regierung ab. Der Rücktritt ist spektakulär, aber unvermeidlich. Truss hatte Grossbritannien ein gut gemeintes, radikales Reformprogramm zum falschen Zeitpunkt mit den falschen Mitteln aufzuzwingen versucht. Dafür hatte sie weder im Parlament noch in der Bevölkerung oder in der Wirtschaft den nötigen Rückhalt. Die konservative Fraktion im Unterhaus hat sie brüsk gestoppt und den Fehler ihrer Wahl zur Parteivorsitzenden in Rekordzeit korrigiert. So viel Handlungsfähigkeit wünscht man sich von einer Volksvertretung.

Der erste Schritt ist damit geschafft. Der schwierigere zweite soll in den nächsten sieben Tagen folgen: Wer kann die zerstrittene Partei hinter sich vereinen und das Land rasch wieder auf sicheren wirtschaftspolitischen Grund führen? Rishi Sunak ist Favorit – aber keiner der Kandidaten ist ideal » | Peter Rásonyi | Donnerstag, 10. Oktober 2022

Liz Truss tritt zurück, Boris Johnson erwägt offenbar Comeback | ZDFheute live

Gescheiterte Steuersenkungen und Konflikte mit den Parteikollegen: Nach nur 45 Tagen hat die britische Premierministerin Liz Truss ihren Rücktritt angekündigt. «Ich habe mit dem König gesprochen, um ihm mitzuteilen, dass ich als Chefin der Konservativen Partei zurücktrete», sagte die konservative Politikerin in der Londoner Downing Street. Rund 24 Stunden vor ihrem Rücktritt hatte sie noch im britischen Unterhaus beteuert, nicht aufgeben zu wollen und „eine Kämpferin“ zu sein. Nun wies sie zwar auf die schwierigen ökonomischen Zeiten und die politische Instabilität auf dem ganzen Kontinent hin, räumte aber auch ein, unter den aktuellen Bedingungen ihre Vision des radikalen Wirtschaftswachstums nicht mehr umsetzen zu können. Die Amtszeit von Truss war von Beginn an kritisch bis hämisch begleitet worden. Die Boulevardzeitung "Daily Star" hatte seit Freitag ein Livevideo laufen, in dem gefragt wurde, wer länger durchhalte: ein Salatkopf oder Liz Truss.

Als Premierministerin will sie noch im Amt bleiben, bis klar sei, wer ihr nachfolge. Die konservative Fraktion kündigte an, dass ein Nachfolger oder eine Nachfolgerin bis Ende Oktober ins Amt gehoben werde. Damit wäre Truss mit höchstens 55 Tagen die Regierungschefin mit der kürzesten Amtszeit in der britischen Geschichte.

Berichten von “Times” und “Telegraph” zufolge, soll der skandalgeplagte britische Ex-Premierminister Boris Johnson eine erneute Kandidatur als Premierminister planen. Johnson, der ach der «Partygate»-Affäre und vielen weiteren Skandalen Anfang Juli zum Rücktritt gezwungen wurde, hat noch immer in Teilen der Partei eine loyale Unterstützerbasis. In Umfragen unter Parteimitgliedern schnitt er zuletzt wieder gut ab.

Was erwartet Großbritannien nun? Geht das Chaos nach Liz Truss weiter? Wie stehen die Chancen auf eine Neuwahl, wie sie die Oppositionsparteien fordern? ZDFheute live spricht mit dem britischen Labour-Abgeordneten und ehemaligen BBC-Journalisten Ben Bradshaw, mit Politikwissenschaftler Anthony Glees und ZDF-Korrespondent Andreas Stamm über die ungewisse Zukunft des Landes.

Liz Truss Announces Resignation after 45 Days in Office | DW News

European Press Blames Brexit for UK Political ‘Insanity’

THE GUARDIAN: Columnists suggest Liz Truss’s failure could spell end of ‘wishful thinking’ of a sovereign UK going its own way

Liz Truss’s situation is ‘totally unsustainable’, one Spanish newspaper reported. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images
ANALYSIS
Six years on from the Brexit referendum, continental commentators have become used to Westminster meltdowns, but many see in the latest cataclysm the finale of a project that was always divorced from reality.

For the French newspaper Libération, there is “decidedly something rancid in the Tories’ tea”. The paper’s former London correspondent Sonia Delesalle-Stolper said Westminster, a “temple of democracy and ancient traditions”, had witnessed “bewildering” scenes.

“Blows, shoves, insults, resignations, tears … After some implausible incidents in both the Commons and Downing Street, the British government and the Conservative party seem to be on a path to total self-destruction,” she said.

Like most European papers, Libération looked past the spectacle to what it saw as the root cause of the chaos. “In four months, the country will have had four chancellors, two interior ministers, and no doubt soon two prime ministers,” it said.

“Who will be Liz Truss’s successor, since her imminent departure is no longer in doubt? That’s the question. For Brexit – and its chief artisan, Boris Johnson – has successfully drained the Conservative party of all substance and competence.” » | Jon Henley, Europe correspondent | Thursday, October 20, 2022

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss Quits after 45 Days in the Role - BBC News

Liz Truss kündigt Rücktritt als britische Premierministerin an: Nach nur sechs Wochen an der Spitze der Regierung stellt Liz Truss ihr Amt zur Verfügung. Schon in der kommenden Woche wollen die Konservativen einen neuen Parteivorsitzenden bestimmen, der dann als Premierminister folgt. »

Royaume-Uni : la première ministre Liz Truss annonce sa démission : Après 45 jours passés à Downing Street, la première ministre britannique a annoncé jeudi sa démission. Elle restera en fonction jusqu'à la nomination de son successeur. »

Charles Walker MP Has Reached His Limit

After the fracking fracas yesterday evening.

Extraordinary ITV News Broadcast Yesterday: There’s Chaos in Westminster as Liz Truss Hangs On as PM

Check it out here
Krishnan Guru-Murthy taken off air for swearing about Steve Baker: Channel 4 News anchor used offensive word off air to describe Northern Ireland minister »

Liz Truss Faces Unrest over Public Spending Cuts and Pensions Triple Lock Threat

THE GUARDIAN: Senior Tory ministers, Labour party and the public all expected to resist cuts, especially to frontline services

A YouGov poll shows half of Conservative members think Liz Truss should resign. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian
Liz Truss is facing cabinet unrest over her plans for brutal public spending cuts across all departments after the disastrous mini-budget put major pledges at risk, including the pensions triple lock.

The prime minister held a 90-minute cabinet meeting on Tuesday in which she warned ministers that “difficult decisions” lay ahead.

The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, told them “everything is on the table” as he strives to find tens of billions of pounds in savings after ditching Truss’s economic plan. Health, education and welfare are among those areas expected to be hit.

One Whitehall official said departments were already preparing for cuts “significantly higher” than previously planned, with Hunt’s tax U-turns estimated to raise £32bn, leaving a £38bn hole in the public finances. » | Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot | Tuesday, October 18, 2022

This woman has been a bloody effing disaster! The Tories, too, are a bloody effing disaster! A bigger mess of Brexshit is hard to imagine! As for the economy being in safe hands under the Tories... well, that has been proven to be a big lie. A myth. The stuff of fairy stories. Hopefully, the Tories will soon be extinct. We can't allow our country to be run by a band of such incompetent fools ever again. – © Mark Alexander

Liz Truss promises to keep pensions triple lock: Truss’s PMQs comment at odds with Downing Street and Treasury’s previous refusal to commit to pledge »

Au Royaume-Uni, la première ministre Liz Truss en sursis

LE MONDE : Le « minibudget » de la cheffe de gouvernement britannique a été réduit à néant, lundi, par son nouveau chancelier de l’Echiquier. Donnée sur le départ, la dirigeante a affirmé qu’elle restait à Downing Street, mais sa marge de manœuvre paraît réduite.

La première ministre britannique, Liz Truss, à Londres, le 14 octobre 2022. DANIEL LEAL / AP
Liz Truss a le visage fermé, elle regarde droit devant elle, assise à sa place attitrée dans la Chambre des communes. La scène est étonnante, presque pénible : lundi 17 octobre, dans l’après-midi, la dirigeante écoute son nouveau chancelier de l’Echiquier (le ministre des finances britannique), Jeremy Hunt, détruire méthodiquement le « minibudget » qu’elle a défendu avec acharnement depuis qu’il a été rendu public, le 23 septembre. Elle est encore la première ministre du Royaume-Uni, mais elle a clairement perdu la partie. » | Par Cécile Ducourtieux (Londres, correspondante) | mardi 18 octobre 2022

Tory Party Members Want Truss Out - and Boris In

A poll of Conservative party members shows 55% want Liz Truss to quit now - and Boris Johnson to replace her.

‘Hunt’s Running the Show’: The Day Power Drained Away from Liz Truss

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

The Lady's Not for Turning... Up' - Says Labour, as PM Is a No-show

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has slammed Prime Minister Liz Truss for not turning up to answer his Urgent Question on the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng.

Mr Starmer had called for Ms Truss to come to the Commons and answer the question in front of MPs, but instead sent former Tory leadership contest rival Penny Mordaunt

US President Biden Calls Truss's Economic Policies 'a Mistake'

BBC: The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has called Liz Truss's original economic policies "a mistake".

In an unusual intervention, he said the economic turmoil that followed the government's mini-budget had been "predictable".

Speaking at an ice cream shop in Oregon, Mr Biden was asked by reporters about the prime minister's attempt to boost growth with unfunded tax cuts - what the reporter called the "trickle-down plan that she has had to back away from".

The president replied: "Well, it's predictable. I wasn't the only one that thought it was a mistake."

He added: "I think that the idea of cutting taxes on the super wealthy at a time when - anyway, I just think - I disagreed with the policy, but that's up to Great Britain to make that judgment, not me."

Mr Biden has long been critical of the economic theory at the heart of the prime minister's policy, namely that cutting taxes on businesses and the rich generates growth that allows wealth to "trickle down" to all sectors of society.

But it is unusual for the president of the United States to be so critical of the leader of one of America's closest allies. With video » | James Landale, Diplomatic correspondent | Sunday, October 16, 2022

Joe Biden is right, of course. To reduce taxes for the super-rich at a time when most other people are struggling is absolutely nonsensical and totally immoral. But this is typical Tory policy: heartless, selfish, greedy and lacking in compassion.

We need to ditch these Tory clowns, the damn lot of them, with dispatch. Hopefully, the Party will become extinct, just like the dodo. – © Mark Alexander

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.

Peter Oborne Absolutely DEMOLISHES Liz Truss

"Liz Truss is FINISHED & may have DESTROYED the Conservative Party altogether"

Senior Tories Hold Talks to Discuss Ousting Liz Truss to ‘Rescue’ Party

THE OBSERVER: As new chancellor Jeremy Hunt rips up prime minister’s economic plans, Conservatives plot route to replace her

Liz Truss, the prime minister, at a news conference in London on Friday. Photograph: Reuters
Senior Conservatives will this week hold talks on a “rescue mission” that would see the swift removal of Liz Truss as leader, after the new chancellor Jeremy Hunt dramatically tore up her economic package and signalled a new era of austerity.

A group of senior MPs will meet on Monday to discuss the prime minister’s future, with some wanting her to resign within days and others saying she is now “in office but not in control”. Some are threatening to publicly call on Truss to stand down after the implosion of her tax-cutting programme.

In a rearguard action to prop up the prime minister, her cabinet allies tonight warned MPs they would precipitate an election and ensure the Tories were “finished as a party” if they toppled a second leader in just a few months. » | Toby Helm , Political Editor, and Michael Savage | Saturday, October 15, 2022

Tories doing what they know best: ousting their leader when their leader is no longer any use to them. They did the same thing with Margaret Thatcher, even though she had won so many elections for the Party, Once they felt she might not any longer be able to win any more elections, she was thrown to the wolves.

This is another good reason why this ruthless Party, the "Nasty Party", needs to be consigned to the dustbin of history. – © Mark Alexander

Health and Teaching Unions Aghast at Jeremy Hunt’s New Era of Tory Austerity

THE OBSERVER: The chancellor sparked alarm among trade union leaders by promising ‘very difficult decisions’ for government budgets

Jeremy Hunt outside BBC Broadcasting House in central London on Saturday. Photograph: Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images
Health chiefs, public sector unions and teaching leaders expressed horror on Saturday after the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, appeared to usher in a fresh era of austerity, and the threat of more misery for cash-strapped hospitals and schools.

In his first interviews since dramatically replacing Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday, Hunt provoked widespread alarm by promising “very difficult decisions” for government budgets.

The NHS Confederation, which represents the healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, warned the prospect of further cuts was “incredibly grim”.

The head of the largest teaching union for England and Wales denounced Hunt’s attempt to placate the financial markets as “disastrous” and “scary” for schools, while another teaching union, NASUWT, said deeper cuts would cause “immeasurable damage to children’s learning”. » | Mark Townsend, Home Affairs Editor, and Michael Savage, Policy Editor | Saturday, October 15, 2022

Jeremy Hunt is another Tory w*****r who is destined to fail! He has neither the strength nor the experience for this job. I am going to stick my neck out and state that he will fail.

The Tories have themselves created the hell that we are now living through. Why? Because of the fantasy of the benefits of Brexit. Brexit was, is and will always remain the stupidest of ideas. Anyone who truly thought that leaving the biggest and greatest single market this world has ever known—The Single Market—would bring benefits and prosperity to this weakened, isolated middle-ranking nation was either deluded, lied to or had sawdust for brains! Because of Brexit, we actually deserve all the pain we will have to live through!

Brexit will almost inevitably lead to the breakup of the United Kingdom. It is to be hoped that Scotland under Nicola Sturgeon’s superior leadership will be able to bring Scotland’s independence about. Scottish independence will/would be a role model for the rest of the Celtic fringe. Westminster is clearly no longer working for Scotland, Ireland or Wales.

As for England, Liz Truss needs to retire to her kitchen and start baking cookies. She has made a dog’s dinner of the UK economy. She and that Kwasi Kwarteng. Both of them deserve to be consigned to the dustbin of history!

If the government is strapped for cash, which it so clearly is, start taxing the superrich, the billionaire class, and bring in a windfall tax on the energy companies. For Christ’s sake, don’t expect the people, das Volk, to live through even more pain than they have already been forced to live through by successive incompetent Tory governments!

As I have said many times before on this blog, the Tories need to be consigned to the dustbin of history—and with dispatch!—just as the Whigs were consigned to the dustbin of history before them. The Party is made up of backward-thinking people, old fogeys, and fossils. This country needs a business-friendly party, for sure; but a forward-thinking one. A party which believes in equity and is Europe-friendly. This country needs to be placed in the heart of European politics. We, as a nation, have so much to offer Europeans; and Europeans have so much to offer us.

Outside of the European Union, this country will become poorer, its economy will go on shrinking, and it will become ever-more disunited. Of these things, I will assure you right here and now! — © Mark Alexander

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