A man has been taken into custody following an incident where a car collided with the main gates of Downing Street.
The police have reported that there were no injuries resulting from the incident.
According to the PA news agency, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was present at Downing Street when the car crashed into the front gates. However, Sunak had planned to depart No. 10 at that time and left after the collision occurred.
Video footage captured the incident, revealing a small silver Kia that emerged from a nearby car park next to the Ministry of Defence building.
The vehicle proceeded across Whitehall, near the Cenotaph, before suddenly stopping and then accelerating directly into the gates of Downing Street.
Furthermore, it has been understood by Sky News that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was also present at Downing Street during the incident.
Officers were pictured searching the vehicle’s boot and removing a large white sheet.
Large sections of Whitehall were closed to the public and vehicles following the incident, but is now fully open.
“At around 4.20hrs a car collided with the gates of Downing Street on Whitehall,” Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
Image:Car that crashed into Downing Street gates
“Armed officers arrested a man at the scene on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving.
“There are no reports of any injuries.”
The incident is being dealt with by local police in Westminster and counter terrorism police are not involved, Sky News understands.
Witness Simon Parry, 44, said: “I heard a bang and looked up and saw loads of police with Tasers shouting at the man.
“A lot of police vehicles came very quickly and were very quick to evacuate the area.”
Image:Police remove large white sheet from vehicle
The sleaze watchdog of parliament has opened an investigation against Rishi Sunak over allegations that he failed to disclose a conflict of interest.
After it was discovered that a daycare organisation owned in part by the prime minister’s wife, Akshata Murty, would profit from budgetary policy changes, the prime minister came under fire.
While discussing the childcare reforms at a parliamentary committee last month, the prime minister did not bring up his wife’s involvement, despite being prompted to do so.
In an announcement on Monday, the parliamentary commissioner for standards said the prime minister was being probed because of a possible failure to declare an interest.
A Downing Street source confirmed that the investigation related to the childcare agency.
The probe is not the first time Ms Murty’s finances and business interests have put the political spotlight on her husband.
The heiress and venture capitalist, who is worth hundreds of millions of pounds, was criticised afterThe Independent revealed last year that she was avoiding tax by assuming non-dom status.
She later renounced the status after the revelations caused an outcry.
Mr Sunak was specifically asked about possible conflicts of interest relating to the budget when he appeared at a hearing of the Liaison Committee last month.
Asked whether he had anything to declare at the time by Labour MP Catherine McKinnell, he said: “No, all my disclosures are declared in the normal way.”
A No 10 spokeswoman said: “We are happy to assist the commissioner to clarify how this has been transparently declared as a ministerial interest.”
The government is to test incentive payments of £600 for childminders joining the profession, and £1,200 if they join through an agency like the one part-owned by the prime minister’s wife.
Following a vote by members to reject a 4% pay offer because they believed it represented a “massive real terms pay cut,” GMB union bosses claimed that the government’s “cold dead hands” were preventing the creation of a proper pay offer.
Six additional strike dates have been set by ambulance workers as their ongoing dispute over pay, jobs, and working conditions.
On February 6 and 20, as well as March 6 and 20, more than 10,000 GMB union members who work as paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers, and other ambulance staff at eight NHS trusts are planning to strike.
Workers at West Midlands ambulance service will also strike on 23 January and North West Ambulance Service will walk out on 24 January.
The dates have been announced after talks with the government broke down, with the union saying their members are “angry” and “are done”.
GMB union members voted against the government’s 4% pay rise, saying it was “another massive real terms pay cut”.
Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said: “Our message to the government is clear – talk pay now.
“Ministers have made things worse by demonising the ambulance workers who provided life and limb cover on strike days – playing political games with their scaremongering.
“The only way to solve this dispute is a proper pay offer. But it seems the cold, dead hands of Number 10 and 11 Downing Street are stopping this from happening.
“In the face of government inaction, we are left with no choice but industrial action.
“GMB ambulance workers are determined, they’re not going to back down. It’s up to this government to get serious on pay. We are waiting.”
The ambulance services that workers will be walking out in February and March from are: South West, South East, North West, South Central, North East, East Midlands, Welsh, and Yorkshire.
Unite, which represents 100,000 NHS workers, said its ambulance committee is meeting later on Wednesday to set new strike dates that will then be put to members to confirm.
We reported earlier that a senior lawyer has been appointed by Rishi Sunak to look into complaints of bullying behaviour by Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab.
Commercial and employment law specialist Adam Tolley KC will look into the claims made against Mr Raab after two formal complaints were submitted about his conduct.
Mr Raab requested the independent investigation after the formal complaints about his actions.
However, Downing Street said Mr Sunak will not have to act on any findings made by the investigation because as prime minister he remains the ultimate arbiter of the ministerial code.
Now, Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain has said the prime minister must “commit” to sacking Mr Raab if the official investigation confirms the allegations of bullying made against him.
“The prime minister must commit now to sacking Dominic Raab if complaints about his bullying are upheld. Anything less would make a mockery of his promise to bring back integrity,” the MP for North East Fife said in a statement.
“It’s only been four weeks, and already Rishi Sunak has repeatedly turned a blind eye to allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Conservative ministers.
“This can’t be yet another case of one rule for Conservative MPs and another rule for everyone else.
“Every day brings yet more sleaze and scandal, while families round the country pay the price for this endless Conservative chaos.”
The Liberal Democrats have also called on Mr Sunak to publish the report in full within 24 hours of receiving it.
Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has said he warned Liz Truss she was going too fast with her ill-fated economic plans.
In his first interview since he was sacked by the then PM, Mr Kwarteng told TalkTV he had warned her to “slow down” after September’s mini-budget.
He said he told her it was “mad” to fire him and she would only last “three or four weeks” if she did.
“Little did I know it was only going to be six days,” he added.
Mr Kwarteng was dramatically fired by Ms Truss in October, two weeks after their tax-cutting mini-budget sparked turmoil on financial markets.
After abandoning almost all of the plan in a bid to stay in power, she announced her resignation a few days later after support from Tory MPs ebbed away.
Speaking to TalkTV Mr Kwarteng said that he had warned Ms Truss about going at a breakneck speed with economic measures after the mini-budget.
“She said, ‘Well, I’ve only got two years’ and I said, ‘You will have two months if you carry on like this’. And that is, I’m afraid, what happened.”
He also said: “I think the prime minister was very much of the view that we needed to move things fast. But I think it was too quick.”
In the interview he acknowledged he had to “bear some responsibility” for the pace of the changes, which were “too quick”.
He also revealed he found out he was going to be sacked when he saw a journalist tweeting about it while he was in the car going to Downing Street, after being summoned back from a trip to the US.
He said he had told her: “Prime ministers don’t get rid of chancellors.”
The former chancellor said he did not think the prime minister could fire him “just for implementing what she campaigned on.”
When Liz Truss unveiled the now infamous mini-budget, even her cabinet colleagues didn’t know what was coming. Rishi Sunak is taking no such risks.
Late last night, the Treasury issued a briefing to friendly newspapers – seen by Sky News – setting out the “eyewatering” scale of the fiscal black hole, which means “everyone” will need to pay more tax.
Following a meeting between the prime minister and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to discuss the Autumn Statement on 17 November, they “agreed that tough decisions are needed on tax rises, as well as on spending”, the Treasury stated.
A Treasury source said: “It is going to be rough. The truth is that everybody will need to contribute more in taxes if we are to maintain public services.
“After borrowing hundreds of billions of pounds through COVID-19and implementing massive energy bill support, we won’t be able to fill the fiscal black hole through spending cuts alone.”
They also briefed that while there will be pain all around, those with the broadest shoulders will bear the highest burden – something former chancellor George Osborne, the architect of austerity, also used to say.
It’s expected income tax thresholds will be frozen – dragging tens of thousands more people into the 20p and 40p tax rates in the coming years, and the windfall tax could be extended.
But day-to-day spending is also expected to be squeezed, with the possible exceptions of the NHS and defense, on departments already struggling with inflation.
Some in government say they expect Mr Sunak to raise benefits by inflation as promised in a signal of fairness to the most vulnerable, but no decisions have been made yet.
This is rolling the pitch – preparing the public and MPs for grim newsand setting out priorities.
It allows interest groups within his party, and external groups and charities, to make their cases in advance and hopefully avoid some of the worst pitfalls.
But it’s a high-wire act – the last time spending was squeezed like this, under the austerity drive of David Cameron and George Osborne from 2010, they had years to craft a narrative around it.
This time, Rishi Sunak made clear on the steps of Downing Street that a lot of the economic damage is self-inflicted by his predecessor Liz Truss and her failure to balance the books, although borrowing to tackle COVID is a key driver too.
Many voters who turned to the Conservatives for the first time in 2019 will have heard Boris Johnson saying austerity was over, indeed that he had always thought it was “just not the right way forward for the UK”.
The PM does not have long to craft a case that it is now time for everyone to tighten their belts – and to try and ensure the balance looks fair.
Downing Street announced that the UK and France will step up cooperation to combat migrant crossings in the English Channel.
Rishi Sunak spoke with President Emmanuel Macron for the first time as Prime Minister on Friday.
According to No. 10, the two men expressed a commitment to “deepening” their work to prevent “deadly journeys.”
A statement from the Elysée Palace after the call made no specific mention of migrant boats.
There have already been promises to deepen cooperation earlier in October after then-Prime Minister Liz Truss met with Mr Macron in Prague earlier this month.
The pair pledged an “ambitious package of measures” to be announced this autumn.
Downing Street has refused to give details on any future plans or when an announcement will be made.
But Mr Sunak is said to have “stressed the importance for both nations to make the Channel route completely unviable for people traffickers”.
In 2021, the UK agreed to pay France £54m to boost patrols along France’s northern coast.
A report, in The Times, says Mr Sunak wants to close a new deal with France, including targets for how many boats are stopped.
It has been claimed that the French “pulled the plug” on a draft agreement back in the summer after Liz Truss said the “jury’s out” on whether Emmanuel Macron was a friend or foe.
The Elysée has previously declined to comment while Ms Truss and Mr Macron appeared to patch things up after their October meeting in Prague.
The new prime minister chose on Friday to strike a markedly warm tone towards the French president.
Following their phone call, No 10 emphasized areas of cooperation – including climate change, defence, the war in Ukraine, and energy.
According to Downing Street, Mr Sunak “stressed the importance he places on the UK’s relationship with France – our neighbour and ally”.
The Elysée said Mr Macron spoke of his willingness to deepen ties in defence and energy.
The UK and France have clashed in recent years over post-Brexit fishing rights, the AUKUS security pact, and migration.
In November 2021, 27 people died in the worst-recorded migrant tragedy in the Channel.
But the UK was disinvited from a ministerial meeting on the issue after Mr Macron accused Boris Johnson– prime minister at the time – of not being serious.
There is speculation that Mr Sunak may forge a more positive relationship with the French president than with his two predecessors.
They are close in age, often seen as “slick” in appearance, and worked in banking before turning to politics.
IMAGE SOURCE, REUTERS Image caption, They clashed but before leaving office, Mr Johnson described the French president as “a très bon buddy”
“I think in terms of style, they’re quite compatible,” says Lord Ricketts, who previously served as the UK’s ambassador to France.
However, the cross-bench peer notes that in substance, they’re a long way apart on certain issues.
Mr Sunak was a Brexit supporter in 2016 while Emmanuel Macron is passionately pro-European.
The new prime minister has also signalled he intends to push ahead with certain policies, strongly disliked by the Elysée.
They include sending asylum seekers to Rwanda and pursuing legislationthat could allow ministers to override parts of the post-Brexit deal for Northern Ireland.
“But at least there’ll be a more serious dialogue than there ever was under Boris Johnson, provided Rishi Sunak can stay away from using France as a political football,” says Lord Ricketts.
In August, before leaving Downing Street, Boris Johnson said Emmanuel Macron was a “très bon buddy” and described the UK-France relationship as one of “huge importance.”
Rishi Sunaktold Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that he is “excited” about the two countries relationship.
During a phone call today, the new Tory leader told Mr Albanese that the free trade agreement, Aukus, and the UK’s potential accession to a comprehensive and progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement were all examples of the two countries’ strong relationship.
A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The prime minister said he was excited by the relationship between the UK and Australia, which was built on deep friendship and a shared approach to global challenges.”
The new prime minister also “welcomed” Australia’s strong support to Ukraine, including the decision to deploy the Australian military to the UK to train Ukrainian forces.
“Both looked forward to meeting in person at the G20 next month,” the spokeswoman added.
We look at how the Southampton-born banker made his way to the top job in Downing Street.
Just seven weeks ago, Rishi Sunakwas licking his wounds after losing the Tory leadership race to Liz Truss.
Now, he has become the youngest prime minister of the modern era.
As he settles into his tenure in Number 10 as the third PM of 2022, let’s look back at how he made it to the top job.
First-class Oxford degree
Born in 1980 in Southampton, he is the eldest of three children to his parents of Punjabi descent.
Mr Sunak’s father was a family doctor and his mother ran a pharmacy, where he helped her with the books.
He attended England’s oldest public school, Winchester College, where he became the first Indian-origin head boy and was editor of the school paper.
He has since said his experience at the boarding school was “intellectually transforming” and put him “on a different trajectory”.
Mr Sunak went on to study philosophy, politics and economics at Lincoln College at Oxford University, where he obtained a first-class degree.
After completing an MBA at Stanford University, where he met his future wife, Akshata Murthy, Mr Sunak worked for the investment bank Goldman Sachs as an analyst.
He was said to have already had job offers from investment banks under his belt while still in his second year at Oxford.
He moved to work for hedge funds in 2006 when he joined TCI, known as a very aggressive fund, and left three years later to cofound a new hedge fund.
Mr Sunak then turned his attention to politics.
Replacing a Tory grandee
In 2014, Mr Sunak was selected as the Conservative Party candidate in the Yorkshire seat of Richmond – previously held by former Tory leader William Hague – before the following year’s general election.
Nicknamed the “maharajah of the Yorkshire Dales”, he recalled being introduced as “the new William Hague” to his constituents after winningthe ballot, to which a Yorkshire farmer replied: “Ah yes Haguey!
“Good bloke. I like him. Bit pale, though. This one’s got a nice tan.”
Soon after his entry into the Commons – where, as a Hindu, he took his oath on the Bhagavad Gita – the first big political fight of his career came along in Brexit.
Mr Sunak supported leaving the EU, claiming the UK would be “freer, fairer and more prosperous” outside the bloc.
His side won, and he bided his time on the backbenches, supporting Theresa May’s negotiations and writing papers on the benefits of freeports, before being appointed to government in January 2018 as a junior minister at the housing ministry.
After Mrs May’s demise, he joined with colleagues Oliver Dowden and Robert Jenrick to write an article in The Telegraph, backing Boris Johnson as the only person who could “save” the Tory party.
His support paid off, as when Mr Johnson became prime minister in July 2019, Mr Sunak secured a promotion to become chief secretary to the Treasury, becoming the right-hand man to Mr Javid as chancellor.
Sunak won praise throughout the pandemic for rapidly introducing support schemes worth billions of pounds to keep jobs and businesses afloat during 18 months of lockdowns.
The likes of furlough and the “Eat Out to Help Out” scheme led to “dishy Rishi” becoming a household name, and a popular one with the public.
At the height of this popularity, he was seen by many Tory MPs as the sure-fire favourite to succeed Mr Johnson when the time came.
Image:The then-chancellor’s Eat Out to Help Out plan made him a household name.
But he seemed to fall from grace as quickly as he rose to fame.
Mr Sunak introduced a number of policies that went down badly with Tory MPs, especially the rise in national insurance to fund more money for the NHS and social care.
He was also fined for attending the prime minister’s birthday party during lockdown in 2020, compromising his ability to separate himself from the partygate scandal.
But it was revelations about his wife that really damaged his standing with the public.
Wife’s non-dom status damages leadership hopes
Ms Murty is a multimillionaire and the daughter of billionaire NR Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of the Indian technology giant Infosys.
In April, it was revealed she held non-dom status, meaning she did not have to pay UK tax on her sizeable international income, and it led to an uproar.
Image:Akshata Murthy’s tax affairs brought his position as chancellor into question.
She later confirmed she would begin to pay tax on her international earnings as it had “become clear that many do not feel [the non-dom status] is compatible with my husband’s role as chancellor”.
The row led to opposition parties highlighting his family’s wealth, with Mr Sunak facingaccusations that his personal circumstances made him an unsuitable candidate to take over and tackle the cost of living crisis.
Although he remained as chancellor, many wrote off his chances of becoming the next Tory leader.
But his resignation in July sparked a ministerial exodus and Mr Johnson’s resignation, paving the way for his first attempt at Downing Street.
In the ensuing leadership race, Mr Sunak came out on top in each of the five parliamentary rounds of the contest, making it to the final two along with Ms Truss.
But as the campaign hit its stride and widened to the party membership, Mr Sunak found himself transformed from favourite to underdog.
While he warned of “tough choices ahead” to tackle record levels of national debt incurred during the pandemic, Ms Truss promised tax cuts as a priority.
He accused his competitor of “fairy-tale” economics and peddling “something-for-nothing” plans that even Jeremy Corbyn would baulk at.
But Ms Truss doubled down, landing blows on Mr Sunak for putting taxes up to the highest level in 70 years.
Staying in the background
She went on to win the party leadership after securing 57% of valid votes cast, compared to 43% for Mr Sunak.
While Ms Truss embarked on a path of economic turmoil thanks to her tax-slashing mini-budget, the former chancellor kept a low profile, only appearing in the Commons for a few backbench debates and staying away from the cameras.
And after her resignation following a historically short tenure, all eyes were back on Mr Sunak as the candidate to bring back stability to the markets and, perhaps, the party.
He announced he was running to replace Ms Truss on Twitter three days later, having already reached the 100+ nominations needed to get a place on the ballot.
But that was all we saw of the favourite for PM as he again kept out of the spotlight, despite going for the highest-profile job in the land.
The United Kingdom is a great country but we face a profound economic crisis.
That’s why I am standing to be Leader of the Conservative Party and your next Prime Minister.
A Conservative MPhas demanded an investigation into Suella Braverman’s appointment as Home Secretary.
Ms Braverman resigned on Wednesday last week after using a private email to share government information with a backbench MP. This week, she was rescheduled for Tuesday.
Speaking to the BBC this morning, Caroline Nokes said there are “big questions hanging over this whole issue”.
“And to be frank I would like to see them cleared up so that the home secretary can get on with her job,” she added.
“If that means a full inquiry then I think that’s the right thing to do.”
Meanwhile, the government confirmed Rishi Sunak “sought assurances” from Ms Braverman that she would not breach the ministerial code again when he re-appointed her home secretary.
Oliver Dowden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was asked in the House of Commons by Labour about the claims Ms Braverman breached the ministerial code “multiple” times (6.31 am post).
Mr Dowden said the home secretary had accepted she made “errors of judgment” – and that the prime minister had “sought assurances to ensure that would not happen again”.
He once again refused to share any private communications between the cabinet secretary and prime minister about the appointment of Ms Braverman, saying this was never done in government.
Mr Dowden repeated what was being said by Downing Street yesterday, in that an independent ethics adviser is set to be appointed soon.
Rishi Sunak has announced that he will appoint a new independent ethics adviser to fill the vacancy left by Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Downing Streetannounced on Wednesday that the new Prime Minister will soon appoint a new independent ministerial interests adviser.
Lord Geidt, the previous ministerial interests adviser, resigned in June and was not replaced when Boris Johnson resigned.
Ms Truss, during her brief tenure in Downing Street, had not appointed an ethics adviser.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said that the appointment of the new ethics adviser would be “done shortly”.
Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Quin also confirmed in the Commons that “it is absolutely the prime minister’s intention to appoint an independent adviser”.
Under Mr Johnson’s tenure, two ethics advisers quit within two years.
Veteran civil servant Sir Alex Allan resigned as ethics adviser in November 2020 after Mr Johnson failed to act on a critical report on alleged bullying by then Home Secretary Priti Patel.
His successor, Lord Geidt, resigned in June this year after accusing Mr Johnson of proposing a “deliberate” breach of the ministerial code.
A protester shouts “Rishi out!” as Rishi Sunakarrives at Downing Street.
Standing at the lectern outside his new home, he announces that he has accepted the King’s invitation to form a government.
He takes a solemn approach, saying the country is “facing a profound economic crisis”, the aftermath of COVID “lingers” and Putin is presenting a threat in Ukraine.
Mr Sunak pays tribute to his predecessor Liz Truss, saying she was enthusiastic to create change, but “some mistakes were made”.
He says they were not the result of “bad intentions”, but they were “mistakes nonetheless”.
“I have been made the leader of the party and your prime minister, in part, to fix them, and that work begins now,” he says.
It is traditional for the new prime minister to be greeted by a throng of applauding advisers and MPs as they walk along Downing Streetfor the first time as PM.
But one of Rishi Sunak’s close allies, Mel Stride, texted MPs to say this will not be happening today.
The new PM apparently wants to avoid a celebratory tone.
The fact Mel Stride has sent this email suggests he may be destined to be Mr Sunak’s chief whip, in charge of parliamentary discipline.
According to a media notice from Downing Street,Liz Truss used her final cabinet meeting to tell her ministers the government had “secured some significant achievements” in the “short time” it had been in place.
A readout of this morning’s meeting said: “The prime minister opened cabinet by thanking ministers for their support. She said that in the short time the government had been in place they had secured some significant achievements.
“She said the government ensured the country was able to mourn the passing of Her Majesty The Queen and to welcome His Majesty King Charles III as the new monarch, a vital moment in the history of our country.
“The prime minister said the government acted to immediately protect the public and businesses from unsustainably high energy bills – bringing in the Energy Price Guarantee to save the typical household around £700 this winter.
“The government also stuck to its pledge to scrap the rise in national insurance and demonstrated its steadfast commitment in supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s war of aggression.”
The media notice ends: “The prime minister concluded by saying her time in the role had been a huge privilege and that her successor will have her support as they now build on the important steps already taken by the cabinet to support the country.”
Sunak’simpending status as the UK’s first prime minister from an ethnic minority is “a massive moment” symbolically, says Anand Menon, director of the UK in a Changing Europe think tank.
“[But] his reputation will hinge on how well he delivers as PM at what is perhaps a uniquely difficult time in our history,” Menon told Al Jazeera.
“At a minimum, the South Asian community will take note because one of their own is in Downing Street, though ultimately they will judge him on his policies and there is no guarantee that his policies will be to all of their likings,” he said.
“He’s different because he’s not white, … [but] socio-economically, he is absolutely part of the UK elite.”
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The two go back a long way. In 2016, Wallace ran Johnson’s failed leadership bid after the Brexit referendum.
When Johnson resigned this summer, Wallace is said to have worried that losing him as a leader without a plan for a successor would land the party in trouble.
His support today was not totally unqualified. He did nod towards “questions” around Johnson.
The trouble is they are more than just “questions” for a significant number of Tory MPs who remember Johnson for the chaos he brought to Downing Street, the fact he broke the law while in office, was fined, saw dozens of resignations, and is still being investigated by parliament for lying.
Wallace said today a new Tory leader had to have a focus on unity, but that’s something Johnson may struggle to bring to his party.
DISCLAIMER: Independentghana.com will not be liable for any inaccuracies contained in this article. The views expressed in the article are solely those of the author’s, and do not reflect those of The Independent Ghana
Leading pollster Professor Sir John Curtice said whoever leads the Conservative party next should “enjoy the next 18 months to two years, because that will probably be their tenure”.
“Parties and governments who preside over a fiscal crisis have nearly always struggled at the ballot box at the next election,” Sir John said.
An Opinium poll this week projected a 1997-style landslide for Labour, with the party winning 411 seats.
The same poll, conducted for the TUC interviewing more than 10,000 adults, predicted the Conservatives would be reduced from 356 MPs to 137.
IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES
Sir Keir said: “This is not just a soap opera at the top of the Tory party – it’s doing huge damage to the reputation of our country.
“We need a general election so the public can have their say on this utter chaos.
“There’s a manifesto that is going to be ready whenever an election is called,” Sir Keir told the BBC’s Newscast podcast.
“I’ve had a team working on that. I’ve had a team working on general election preparedness. We’ve moved our teams onto a general election footing.
“We’re very, very prepared should there be a general election.”
In his speech to the TUC conference on Thursday, Sir Keir said Labour had a long-term plan to “deliver cheaper bills and higher living standards for working people, growth and jobs in every part of our country”.
He outlined some of the policies he announced at Labour’s annual conference last month, including those in its “green prosperity plan”
The plan includes pledges to create a publicly-owned renewable energy firm, achieve carbon-free electricity by 2030, and insulate 19 million homes.
Liz Truss agreed to Jeremy Hunttearing up her mini-budget during a meeting over the weekend.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “The chancellor and prime minister discussed these measures and agreed on them over the weekend.”
In a briefing with journalists, the spokesman was asked if Ms Truss would rule out resigning, to which he responded that the PM was working very closely with the chancellor.
The spokesman repeated the admission that the mini-budget “went too far, too fast”.
Ms Truss will be in the House of Commons for Jeremy Hunt’s statement there later today, and will also be meeting with Conservative MPs.
“The prime minister wants to continue to engage with her cabinet colleagues as part of a series of engagements carried out both with cabinet and with Parliament more broadly,” the spokesman said.
Asked whether the government’s commitment to increase defence spending remained, the spokesman said the prime minister and chancellor “remain committed” to increasing defence spending, but added, “the long-term ability to fund increased defence spending will depend on the economic stability and on a healthy growing economy.”
Liz Truss has only been in Number 10 for a few weeks, but the possibility of her leaving in the coming months is being seriously considered.
The chancellor has been fired, which is the last resort for any Prime Minister.
Tory MPs including ministers tell me, Liz Truss, herself – prime minister for just five weeks – cannot survive and there is a discussion about how to remove her.
But removing a sitting prime minister who doesn’t want to leave office isn’t always easy. Here are some of the options.
She could resign
No prime minister wants to be hounded out of Downing Street but it could be that Ms Truss, fuelled by cabinet resignations, sees the writing on the wall and announces a Conservative leadership contest.
This is what the last two prime ministers, Boris Johnson and Theresa May, ended up doing after both won no-confidence votes of their MPs but their positions became untenable.
Both of them were in office for three years, though, not just a matter of weeks.
Vote of no confidence
Not so easy. The last Conservative leader to be ousted by their peers in parliament was Iain Duncan Smith in 2003.
Like Ms Truss, he was the choice of the party members, but not his MP colleagues (who favoured Ken Clarke); like Ms Truss, he was also accused of making things worse by not reaching out across the party when appointing his shadow cabinet, and he struggled to maintain authority.
But – thanks to a little-known rule of the backbench 1922 Committee – this is not currently an option.
When Mr Johnson became prime minister in the summer of 2019, the powerful committee decided that a new leader would get a “grace period” of a year before they could be challenged.
Some letters have gone in already, I’m told by MPs.
As one source on the 1922 Committee put it to me, committee chairman Sir Graham Brady “would have to act if we found ourselves in that situation”.
Image: Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked on Friday
A coronation
The problem is that many Conservative MPs feel it was the membership who chose Ms Truss – based on an unachievable prospectus – and they would rather not allow them to choose her successor.
This is much trickier, as the principle that the leader is “elected by the membership” is enshrined in Schedule 2 of the Conservative Party‘s written constitution, and overturning that would require a two-thirds majority in a vote of the National Conservative Convention, which has 800 members comprising the party’s senior officials including grassroots association chairs.
There is no guarantee of how that might go, and there would be accusations that it was shutting down party democracy.
One option would be for MPs to shortlist two candidates in a leadership contest, and for one of them to drop out – as Andrea Leadsom did in her contest with Mrs May in 2016.
The last candidate standing would become a leader “by acclamation” and that could happen quite quickly.
Image: Former chancellor Rishi Sunak
Or, as ConservativeHome’s Paul Goodman has suggested, MPs could set a higher bar of say 100 MPs supporting each candidate so there is only one possible winner.
But it’s not clear there is a unifying figure to undertake that role.
Rishi Sunak supporters believe he has been vindicated for predicting market turmoil, but it’s far from clear he would be accepted more widely.
An election
Ms Truss could make the extremely bold decision, given her party is now 30 points behind in the polls, to go for an election.
The Fixed Term Parliaments Act has been repealed so she would not need a vote in parliament to do this – to which you would imagine only Conservatives would be opposed.
Liz Truss is due to give a press conference in the Downing Street briefing room in just under half an hour’s time.
Our political correspondent Tamara Cohen is outside Number 10 and has captured this picture of quite lively scenes outside of the gates.
It looks like some colourful flares have been set off near the entrance to Downing Street where security and members of the Metropolitan Police are gathered.
At a time when the UK’s international financial credibility is on the line, the chancellor concluded it was a better option to bail out early of a gathering of finance ministers, at the world’s financial institutions in Washington, than stay put.
Why? Because 3,600 miles away, the prime minister was in discussions with Conservative MPs and others – their entire joint programme for government hovering above the shredder.
I’m told Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng were in touch yesterday and it was his decision to make a dash for it to come home early.
He does so knowing that the centerpiece of his few short days as chancellor sits on the rim of the bin, as does his reputation and his career.
Tory MPs at every level of the party are suggesting he could be out of his job soon too.
But earlier, a Downing Street source told me that “the chancellor is doing an excellent job and they [the PM and chancellor] are in lockstep”.
So does Truss want him to continue in the job in the coming months? “Yes”, is the answer.
It is going to be a very interesting day in Westminster. It would not be a surprise if an almighty U-turn happens and happens today.
Labour’s shadow chancellor,Rachel Reeves says, the government’s economic plan won’t result in annual growth of 2.5%.
Liz Truss, according to Ms. Reeves, does not understand how her policies are affecting the public.
“The prime minister just doesn’t seem to understand the anxiety and fear,” Ms Reeves told the BBC.
“This is a crisis made in Downing Street but it is ordinary working people who are paying the price.”
It has been suggested that the Truss administration is trying to use “tickle down economics” – the idea that tax cuts for the rich will create greater wealth in general, some of which will “trickle down” to those who are less well off.
It was announced in the mini-budget nine days ago that the top rate of tax – 45% – was being abolished.
But Ms Reeves commented: “The idea that trickle-down economics is somehow going to deliver the 2.5% growth we all want to see is for the birds.
“The prime minister and the chancellor are doing some sort of mad experiment with the UK economy and trickle-down economics.
“It has failed before and it will fail again.”
The prime minister has said that removing the top rate of tax was the chancellor’s idea.
But the chancellor’s spokesperson has said the pair are “in lockstep” on the issue (12.18 post).
To honor the Queen, Liz Truss’ cabinet gathered in Downing Street.
A number of senior ministers, many of whom were only appointed this week, including Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and Education Secretary Kit Malthouse, were seen arriving for the gathering.
A Number 10 spokesperson said: “At 9.30 am the cabinet paid tribute to Her Majesty, and shared memories of her lifetime of service, including fond recollections of their own encounters with her.
“Cabinet was united in their support for His Majesty the King, as he and the United Kingdom continue to mourn the passing of his mother. There was a moment of silence at the conclusion of the meeting.”
The gathering comes before a special session of Parliament, starting at midday, in which MPs and peers will share their memories and praise for the monarch, who died at Balmoral on Thursday aged 96.
Ms Truss became the Queen’s 15th prime minister when she was appointed at Balmoral on Tuesday.
The meeting became the last public appearance of the monarch.
Later on Friday, Ms Truss will meet the King when he returns to London from Scotland, where he had been since the Queen’s health deteriorated.
