Liz Truss may be in 'listening mode' but her colleagues are in ranting mode
Senior Tories, including Mel Stride - the Sunak-backing chair of the Treasury Select Committee - are now publicly calling for "some element of row back" on some of the key announcements in the government's mini-budget.
Thursday 13 October 2022 14:10, UK
It's day 38 of Liz Truss's premiership - of which 10 were a period of national mourning - and the foreign secretary today toured the TV studios to warn colleagues that a change of leadership would be a "disastrously bad idea".
It normally takes prime ministers years to reach this point, but politics is on fast forward since the mini-budget of 23 September, with Conservative MPs discussing whether their new leader can be removed or whether she will reshuffle her chancellor to survive.
A lot of this is frenzied talk, with cooler heads in the party warning that the rule changes required to remove her and select a new "caretaker" leader without a full leadership contest involving party members are a very high bar.
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Senior Tories, including Mel Stride - the Sunak-backing chair of the Treasury Select Committee - are now publicly calling for "some element of row back" on some of the key announcements.
They argue this is necessary to satisfy the markets in the light of the prime minister insisting public spending would not be cut.
A corporation tax rise, to claw back up to £19bn a year, is a strong option.
James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, notably did not rule that out, saying the prime minister would stick with the general "principles" of her mini-budget when the chancellor sets out his Halloween debt plan on 31 October.
He trumpeted the energy bill support package - announced before and separately from the mini-budget - and "tax cut for 31 million people" in the form of the national insurance cut, but did not specifically back other measures.
He emphasised that Britain's international competitiveness was still a priority.
The prime minister intends to meet all Tory MPs in the next week - starting today - in which they will be able to air concerns about the economic strategy and push their own pet causes.
A Downing Street source said Ms Truss was in "listening mode".
But a lot of her colleagues are in ranting mode.
Many feel that the damage, as shown in the opinion polls, is irreparable to their reputation for economic competence and winning over new voters.
Robert Halfon, the Harlow MP who has championed cost of living issues, told her in a private meeting of Tory MPs that she had "trashed the past 10 years" by backing tax cuts for the wealthy and bad headlines about watering down affordable housing targets.
But failure to reassure the markets with their fiscal plan could make things even worse, so the cabinet is defending the plan in terms that suggest they know it could significantly change in the next two turbulent weeks.