Politico London Playbook writes the stunning opening for the week ahead, and this continuing story has me wide awake very late at night, or is this now early in the morning? Liz Truss rode a harmful and shady tax cut ploy to 10 Downing Street, a matter I have noted with great dismay from the days when she first started to weave her smarmy attempt at power. She played the Conservative Party with what they wanted to hear, as opposed to what they needed to know. Big difference between the two. On this side of the pond, we are witnessing her downfall as being swift and sweet. Her style of politics stinks no matter from where it comes. The question is what will the backers of Rishi Sunak do in the hours to come? He continues to have my strong support, as he has had from the day Boris Johnson was ejected from power.
DEAD WOMAN WALKING? As Liz Truss wakes up this morning she’ll wonder whether this week in Downing Street could be her last. With her authority shot and her premiership unraveling at a speed that is astonishing even by the standards of modern British politics, many now believe it is a matter of time before she is forced out — as she faces a critical 72 hours.
Mondays don’t get much worse than this: The PM has just marked 40 days in office but faces a degree of unrest that Theresa May and Boris Johnson took years to build, with backbenchers breaking cover to urge her to quit, letters pouring into Graham Brady’s inbox, rivals on maneuvers and a delegation of graybeards preparing to tell her the game is up.
A week? Two weeks? Until Christmas? The papers are full of speculation over just how long Truss has left in office, with some suggestions that if the markets show mercy today that could carry her through until the budget on Halloween. “It’s over, but I’m not sure when. Perhaps this week, perhaps next,” one Cabinet minister tells the FT’s Seb Payne. A Tory MP told Playbook yesterday: “Boris lasted longer than he should have because he still had some electoral appeal, and people weren’t sure who would succeed him. She doesn’t have the former — but the latter may again delay things.”
After the Sunday Times urged Truss to quit, the Telegraph leader says today that “it is debatable whether she any longer has the authority to withstand this assault.”
In the Commons: Labour leader Keir Starmer is calling on Truss to come to the Commons and answer questions about her economic plan, accusing her of being “in office but not in power.” The Labour Party could decide to seek an urgent question if she refuses.
Over in Westminster Hall: This afternoon MPs will be debating a petition for an early election which amassed over half a million signatures.
CAFFEINATED POLITICS 