Barely one month old in office, those who did not support Ms. Liz Truss in her quest for the office of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom are quietly chuckling into their cups of tea. While those who supported her find themselves in an unlikely and uncomfortable alliance with those who vehemently opposed her to the point that she beat Mr. Rishi Sunnak by a whisker of votes.
For a start she did not assume office in the most auspicious of circumstances. There was an ongoing train strike staggered by the Unions to roll into each month. There was an energy crisis that worsened the cost of living and then the overall state of the economy that had UK tottering on the edge of a recession. Between Ms. Truss and Rishi Sunnak, the main point of disagreement during the campaign for the office of Prime Minister had been how to tackle the economy. Sunnak said he would like to grow the economy before introducing a tax cut. Truss said she would introduce a tax cut right away. And that was what she did — with regrettable impact.
Within a fortnight of assuming office, she got Dr Kwasi Kwarteng, her ideological soulmate and the first Blackman to assume the office of Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) to present a Mini Budget in which he cut the tax for only the top bracket of people who hardly needed it. All hell broke loose. The cut set a virtual fire to the City, the financial heartbeat of the UK. The pound plunged to an all-time low. The Bank of England rushed to play fire fighter and ploughed £45 Billions to save the sinking Pound. Of all times, this was the week the annual conference of Ms. Truss’s Conservative Party would start. And thus began a conference of division and dysfunction. The opposition to the tax cut was fierce. Kwarteng and Truss were left pointing fingers as to whose idea it was. Kwasi ended up blaming the tax cut on the dead Queen who had just been buried! The Chancellor and the Prime Minister were forced into an embarrassing U-turn and had to withdraw the tax cuts.
This is embarrassing because it was only in the second week of the Truss administration. And the opposition to her initiative included very senior ex- Cabinet Ministers like Michael Gove and Grant Sharp, people Ms. Truss can do little about. Alas the opposition to the Prime Minister is far from over. The fundamental principle of collective Cabinet responsibility appears to be teetering on the brink. Ms. Penny Maudant, a Cabinet Minister, has publicly announced her opposition to a Truss initiative and many feel there is nothing the Prime Minister can do to Penny because Truss is now perceived to be a weak Prime Minister who is ready to turn under pressure. For gone are the days when Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher will say to those who are asking her to make U-turn “You can turn if you want to but this lady ain’t for turning!”
