Team Truss say Tories plotting against the Prime Minister are behaving ‘like a bunch of hyenas’ and any attempt to force her out would be ‘suicide’ for the party
- MPs loyal to Liz Truss have labelled those plotting against her ‘a bunch of hyenas’
- A group of 20 senior Tory rebels met last night to plan a coup, Daily Mail reports
- Truss ally Sir Christopher Chope said it would be ‘suicide’ if the party removed her
- Labour called for a general election regardless of whether Truss is ousted by Tories
MPs loyal to Liz Truss have labelled those plotting against her ‘a bunch of hyenas’ who refuse to accept the outcome of the Tory leadership election, despite their own growing unease.
The PM’s backers have suggested her removal would be ‘suicide’, amid reports that MPs are backing a joint ticket of her former leadership rivals, Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, to take over in running the country.
In a speech yesterday, which came shortly after she sacked Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, the Prime Minister made a humiliating U-turn on her flagship economic policy on plans to keep corporation tax at 19p.
The Daily Mail later reported that a group of around 20 senior rebel MPs, largely Sunak supporters, met over a curry to plan a coup against the PM.
MPs loyal to Liz Truss have labelled those plotting against her ‘a bunch of hyenas’ who refuse to accept the outcome of the Tory leadership election
Truss loyalists have since rallied around her, despite their own growing fears regarding the state of the Tory Party.
Supporter of the PM, Sir Christopher Chope, said it would be ‘suicide’ if the party removed her and brought in another leader.
‘If that’s the way my colleagues behave then I can’t stop them, but I think they’re like a bunch of hyenas, frankly,’ he told The Telegraph.
‘I think it’s going to be suicide for the Conservative Party if we force out another prime minister who is trying to do her best in very difficult circumstances.’
Supporter of the PM, Sir Christopher Chope, said it would be ‘suicide’ if the party removed her and brought in another leader
He went on to say that he is ‘in despair’ at how Miss Truss has been ‘pushed off course by the markets’ as well as by some of his fellow MPs.
Chope also complained last night that the party has become a ‘laughing stock’.
The Christchurch MP previously said that his colleagues criticising the PM should ‘shut up’.
Berkshire MP Sir John Redwood, another prominent supporter of the Prime Minister during her leadership campaign, urged MPs last night not to forget the result of the vote, which she won with 57.4 per cent.
But uncertainty among loyal supporters seemed to be on the rise last night after the PM replaced Kwarteng with Jeremy Hunt and executed yet another policy U-turn.
It comes amid reports that MPs are backing a joint ticket of her former leadership rivals, Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, to take over in running the country
Truss supporter, Chris Loder, expressed his hope that she could continue but admitted: ‘I get the feeling from the parliamentary party and a number of her supporters that is actually quite difficult at the moment.’
Meanwhile, anger rose among detractors, with one former Cabinet minister telling MailOnline ‘she has got to go’.
‘She has burned the house down and she is the chief firefighter. She is now going to be running the country on policies that she trashed completely in the leadership contest… why isn’t she joining Kwasi under the bus?’ they said.
After the speech MPs loyal to Miss Truss shared their support on social media.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman was among Cabinet members to retweet a graphic from the speech, in which she told the country she would ‘always work in the national interest’.
Former minister Crispin Blunt told colleagues in a group of Conservatives: ‘Emergency repair needed for our country. Step forward Rishi and Penny (pictured), with our support and encouragement in the interests of us all.’
It comes after an explosive WhatsApp exchange, leaked yesterday, showed ex-culture secretary Nadine Dorries suggesting any attempt to oust and replace Truss could be undemocratic.
Former minister Crispin Blunt told colleagues in a group of Conservatives: ‘Emergency repair needed for our country. Step forward Rishi and Penny, with our support and encouragement in the interests of us all.’
Ms Dorries replied: ‘Followed by a general election? I love you Crispin but if you seriously think we can impose another leader without one, that the media and the people would allow that, you need a lie down!’
This morning, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called for a general election regardless of whether Truss is ousted by her own party.
Poppadom plot to out the PM: Rebel MPs gather around takeaway curries as they seek new leader to avert Tory ‘wipeout’ and discuss tactics
By Jason Groves, Political Editor for The Daily Mail
It was after 9pm on Monday when a large takeaway curry order was delivered to the MPs’ office block at Portcullis House, a stone’s throw from Big Ben.
Plotting is hungry work and the 20 or so senior MPs gathered in the offices of a former minister had been hard at it for some time.
Most of those present were supporters of the former chancellor Rishi Sunak, many had served in government, including several in the Cabinet.
As they cracked open the poppadoms, the mood was grim but determined.
It was after 9pm on Monday when a large takeaway curry order was delivered to the MPs’ office block at Portcullis House, a stone’s throw from Big Ben
‘It’s not just about the survival of the Government or even the Conservative Party,’ said one source later.
‘People are suffering real world pain from the incompetence we have seen – I’ve got friends who cannot get a new mortgage. We have a duty to stop this and restore a basic level of competence’.
Another said: ‘We are going down, but there is still a chance to salvage something from the wreckage.
‘If we let things carry on as they are we will be wiped out – it will take a decade to rebuild. We cannot let that happen.’
Plotting is hungry work and the 20 or so senior MPs gathered in the offices of a former minister had been hard at it for some time
Most of those present were supporters of the former chancellor Rishi Sunak, many had served in government, including several in the Cabinet
The discussion at the late-night meeting was more about tactics than personalities.
‘If this is going to work we need to make it less about the leader – whether it is Rishi or Penny [Mordaunt] or whoever – and more about the team,’ said one of those present.
‘We have to try to present a united front and put together a team of all the talents.’
Tory party rules preclude a formal challenge against a new leader for at least 12 months, regardless of how many letters of no confidence are submitted by MPs.
Discussion centred around whether the Cabinet or Tory shop steward Sir Graham Brady could be persuaded to tell Liz Truss it was time to go.
But other ideas were floated, including approaching David Cameron, Theresa May, Sir John Major and other former leaders to make an unprecedented joint intervention. ‘None of them are happy apart from Iain [Duncan Smith],’ said one source.
‘In fact most of them are aghast at what they have seen.’
There was no agreement on the exact way forward, apart from an absolute determination that the new leader should be stitched up by MPs without giving party members a vote.
‘There is no way we are leaving this to the members,’ said one former Cabinet minister. ‘They have just given us Liz.
As they cracked open the poppadoms, the mood was grim but determined. Pictured: Grant Shapps
The discussion at the late-night meeting was more about tactics than personalities. Pictured: Suella Braverman
‘We are not asking them again.’ Last night there was speculation that the PM’s decision to sack Kwasi Kwarteng could be the trigger for a major intervention against her by senior figures.
Nadine Dorries has savaged the ‘absurd’ plotters, claiming they were ‘all Sunak supporters’.
‘They agitated to remove Boris Johnson and now they will continue plotting until they get their way,’ she said.
‘It’s a plot not to remove a PM but to overturn democracy.’ But the ‘Poppadom Plot’ is far from the only threat faced by Miss Truss.
She tried to pick a Cabinet of loyalists but, after a fractious party conference, some already appear to be peeling off.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman has publicly criticised the U-turn over the 45p top tax rate and has clashed with the PM over immigration and drugs.
‘It is incredible,’ said one minister. ‘She has not stopped campaigning and doesn’t seem to care who knows it.’
Senior MPs claim Miss Mordaunt is ‘openly’ canvassing MPs for their support despite being in the Cabinet.
Discussion centred around whether the Cabinet or Tory shop steward Sir Graham Brady (pictured) could be persuaded to tell Liz Truss it was time to go.
Sources say the Commons leader, who has publicly criticised Miss Truss’s plan for a squeeze on benefits, looked away during a meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday when the PM attempted to lay down the law on collective responsibility.
Former transport secretary Grant Shapps, who was brutally sacked by the PM last month, has been a fixture in Portcullis House, chatting to jittery Tories as he compiles a spreadsheet of potential rebels on his Samsung smartphone.
And then there is Michael Gove. The arch plotter, who twice helped bring down Boris Johnson, has kept a low profile since last week’s Tory conference where he single-handedly torpedoed the PM’s plan to axe the top rate of tax.
Miss Truss attempted to rally the troops on Wednesday evening when she fielded questions from backbench MPs for an hour at a meeting of the 1922 Committee.
But if anything it made matters worse. Respected ex-minister Robert Halfon accused her of ‘trashing’ more than a decade of work to strengthen Tory support among blue collar workers.
Grim-faced MPs leaving the meeting described the atmosphere as ‘funereal’.
‘People are scared,’ said an ex-minister. ‘Almost everyone wanted her to make a success of it but it has been a disaster.
‘The worst thing is that she gave us no hope that she can get us out of this, or even that she understands how bad it is – almost as if she was on TV rather than talking openly with colleagues.’
Matters may get worse yet. Miss Truss’s decision to jettison much of her economic project now leaves her vulnerable to attacks from even those MPs who backed her. ‘Her leadership authority is now shattered,’ said one. ‘Party discipline has totally broken down.’
Miss Truss’s fate is not sealed yet. Her opponents have no clear plan to remove her and are divided on who should come next.
Philip Hammond, who is no friend of the PM’s politics, said: ‘I don’t believe the country would allow another change of leader without an election and I don’t think Conservative MPs want an election.’
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