United Kingdom: Liz Truss walks a tightrope | The British media predicted that the prime minister’s days were numbered

Abstract Lis figure It has shrunk to its minimum dimension, as seen in the pathetic press conference he held on Friday to announce the ministerial reshuffle. Removal of corporate tax cut from 25% to 19%. In the midst of a spectacular national crisis with a run on the pound and sovereign bonds, Truss barely endured eight agonizing minutes packed into a brief opening statement and four questions. Instead of looking like a determined captain capable of steering the ship right in the face of a ferocious storm, she looked like a motionless rabbit dazzled by the headlights of a passing car.

Unanimous verdict of the press

In Bicentennial Edition The Sunday Times, described Sunday’s press conference as “unfortunate” and left no doubt about her stance in her editorial’s headline: “The Dress Must Go.” “Within 40 days, the reputation of his radical tax-cutting agenda had ended. Conservative Party tax competition and humiliated England on the international stage. Markets’ reaction to the press conference shows that it is impossible to regain confidence with him as prime minister,” the editorial said.

In its inside pages, the Sunday paper breaks down various plots to take it down this week. The verdict of the columnists is unanimous, only the time varies: some give it days, others two weeks, “until Christmas” is very optimistic. In the central double-page article, The The Sunday Times Describing the Conservative Party as a murderous cult, it is about to kill its fourth prime minister in six years: “Tory death cult” is the headline.

The current conspiracy of various “sectarian” tribes is in every newspaper Doomsday predictions about dress survival in the office Elizabeth II was sworn in on September 7, an eternity ago, two days before her death. “It’s over,” headlined Daily Mirror. In ultraconservative terms DSick Mail: “Game Over”. Another strictly conservative Sunday paper, The Sunday Express, which focuses on the court dynamics that led to his impeachment: “Revealed: Secret plot to oust PM”. (We reveal the secret plot to remove the Prime Minister)

The center left on Sunday the observer He indicated that the loss of confidence in Truss extends to his own cabinet. “A group of senior MPs will meet on Monday to discuss the Prime Minister’s future. Some want him to step down in the next few days. Others say he is in power and not in power. Others are threatening to publicly demand his resignation after implementing his economic plan,” the Sunday newspaper said.

Meanwhile more frugality

With Truss completely calm, Jeremy Hunt became the government’s voice in the midst of a serious crisis. New Finance Minister It criticized the “mini-budget” this weekend and announced that other parts of it must be scrapped to regain stability. Since Friday, the government has increased its revenue by £21bn by removing subsidies for the wealthy and corporations with a turnover of more than £250,000. Not enough. The funding hole the Truss has opened is around £60 billion.

There is a pocket in the center Energy AssistLargest in Europe: 60 billion over the next six months, 150 billion if extended by another semester. Government intervention in the market was politically inevitable. Impact of War in Ukraine And this Energy crisis The global crisis has caused the bankruptcy of thousands of companies and doubled the number of households in “energy poverty” (spending 10% of income on gas and electricity) with many companies. Million to more than 6 million houses.

Hunt made it clear he would keep the subsidy, but noted that closing the bills would require higher taxes and cuts in government spending. Truss wants to keep some of the £25bn tax cuts that have, at the time, survived the overhaul, but his voice has not been counted. The problem is that even when all these cuts are removed, the accounts are not fully closed.

On a major political television show on Sunday, Hunt announced that all government departments must present a Cost saving plan Between now and October 31, the date on which the best numbers for the new budget will be submitted, will be assessed by the independent OBR (Office for Budget Responsibility). “Politicians cannot control markets. To regain stability, we need to make tough decisions in many areas that affect many people,” Hunt told the BBC.

Time waits for no one

A famous Rolling Stones song defines the scene well: No time for government. The first acid test will be between this long night (markets in Asia) and an even longer Monday (markets in London and other European and US capitals). If the budget changes and Hunt’s appointment fails to stabilize the pound and sovereign bonds, the outcome could be accelerated. If a relative lull lasts through the week, it could reach Oct. 31, a doomsday of sorts, where markets will decide whether Hunt’s budget from the cap is enough for him. break..

Distrust prevails among conservatives. Off the record, the voices of hidden representatives are final: the dress must go. But more Tory lawmakers are willing to speak out. Former minister Crispin Blunt was indeed “blatant”. “Done. Now we have to look at how we handle the succession process,” Blunt said.

A second MP, Andrew Bridgen, took the lead this afternoon Daily Telegraph, an ultra-conservative morning paper, said the dress had to go. “We cannot continue like this. The country, our people and our party deserve something different,” Bridgen said.

The question is to find a mechanism that does not lead to general elections in which the opposition can win, and that provides even the slightest semblance of legitimacy. Truss was elected by 356 Conservative MPs and about 150,000 members: a tiny fraction of the population.

The media spoke this Sunday because there was no time to go through the entire complicated election process to find a replacement (which usually takes two months). A great deal of prejudice To find a unit figure. The problem is that the “cult” is overblown Tribes fight each other. Even the best consensus candidate cannot avoid a cross-section of disgruntled or disaffected tribes. In some Conservative newspapers they called for an election, which could spell disaster for the government, which trailed Labor by 30 points in the polls.

The end of an illusion

If politics and economic theory are governed by moderately rational criteria, this failure should be a plot point for the theory of “trickle down economics”. Beyond the arguments that can be made about each specific case, Lis Truss and the “leakage” must become synonymous with “economic-social disaster”, as has been done with those bogeymen loaded in the last 12 years: Venezuela and Greece. Given the combination of dominant media/fake news/social media/big interests/neocon ideology, it is doubtful that a right-wing government would be given the same unqualified label as a left-wing government.

At the same time, it is inconceivable that this shocking failure should not enter the global economic debate and even the most moderate orthodoxy. In fact, it is already doing so. The IMF has been very strict over the past two weeks Liz Truss Economic Project. Yesterday US President Joe Biden added his voice. “What’s going on is predictable. I don’t think I’m the only one The idea of ​​cutting taxes on the super rich is a big mistake.said the US President.

Will these voices reach our Bamba? The existence of miracles should never be completely dismissed. They are like magicians: there are, there are.