Tories at war as ex-minister Nadine Dorries accuses Liz Truss of throwing Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng ‘under a bus’ by claiming that he alone was behind decision to scrap 45% tax rate that saves Britain’s richest millions
- Nadine Dorries , a Boris Johnson ultra-loyalist, slammed successor this morning
- Truss had laid responsibility for 45p tax rate axe at door of the Chancellor
- Dorries: ‘One of Boris Johnson’s faults was that he could sometimes be too loyal’
- Added: ‘There is a balance and throwing your Chancellor under a bus isn’t it’
The Tory infighting over the economy exploded into live today as a former minister accused Liz Truss of throwing her Chancellor ‘under the bus’ over controversial tax cuts for the rich.
Nadine Dorries, an ultra-loyalist supporter of Boris Johnson, ripped into his successor this morning after she said Kwasi Kwarteng was behind the decision to scrap the 45p tax rate for top earners.
The announcement in the mini-Budget just over a week ago – to be funded by massive increases in public borrowing – has been criticised across the political divide and helped spark panic in the markets.
But in a pre-Conservative Party Conference interview this morning, Ms Truss said the decision was taken by Mr Kwarteng alone, without consulting the Cabinet.
In response, Ms Dorries, who backed Ms Truss in the Tory leadership race before quitting as culture secretary, tweeted: ‘One of Boris Johnson’s faults was that he could sometimes be too loyal and he got that.
‘However, there is a balance and throwing your Chancellor under a bus on the first day of conference really isn’t it. (Fingers crossed) things improve and settle down from now.’
Nadine Dorries (left), an ultra-loyalist supporter of Boris Johnson, ripped into his successor this morning after she said Kwasi Kwarteng was behind the decision to scrap the 45p tax rate for top earners.
In a pre-Conservative Party Conference interview this morning, Ms Truss said the decision was taken by Mr Kwarteng alone, without consulting the Cabinet.
In response, Ms Dorries, who backed Ms Truss in the Tory leadership race before quitting as culture secretary, tweeted: ‘One of Boris Johnson’s faults was that he could sometimes be too loyal and he got that. ‘However, there is a balance and throwing your Chancellor under a bus on the first day of conference really isn’t it. (Fingers crossed) things improve and settle down from now.’
Appearing on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Ms Truss said the mini-budget’s most controversial measure – the abolition of the 45 per cent tax rate on earnings over £150,000 – was not discussed with the Cabinet but was a decision made by the Chancellor.
She added that Mr Kwarteng ‘meets business people all the time’ when asked about the Chancellor attending a private champagne reception with hedge fund managers who stood to gain from a collapse in sterling following his mini-budget.
The Prime Minister told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: ‘The Chancellor meets business people all the time, that’s his job.
‘I do not manage Kwasi Kwarteng’s diary, believe me.’
Pressed on whether it would have been better if he had not gone as people are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, Ms Truss said: ‘I get up every morning as Prime Minister thinking how can we make our country more successful, how can we reassure people, how can we help people get through these very difficult times and we do face difficult times…
‘And that’s what I’m focused on. That’s what the Chancellor is focused on and that is what the whole Cabinet is focused on.’
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