I’m a fighter, not a quitter says Truss… as blows keep coming

Liz Truss suffered another tough day following the resignation of her home secretary (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)

Liz Truss has been plunged into yet another crisis after her home secretary Suella Braverman quit – and hinted the prime minister should do the same.

Ms Braverman – believed to have had rows with the PM – said she was resigning for a technical breach of email rules.

But in a stinging resignation letter she told Ms Truss she had already ‘broken key pledges’ to voters and added: ‘Pretending we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see we have made them, and hoping things magically come right is not serious politics.’

In another bombshell hours later, two Tory whips were said to have resigned amid claims of bullying as MPs voted on fracking. To wrestle back control, Ms Truss is said to have ordered Tories to U-turn on their 2019 manifesto pledge against the mining process or risk an immediate general election, in which hundreds of them could lose seats.

Despite 40 abstentions – including ex-PM Boris Johnson – she defeated Labour, whose MPs claimed senior Tories shoved potential rebels through the voting lobby.

The blows for Ms Truss came after a stormy prime ministers questions – her first since sitting in silence on Monday as new chancellor Jeremy Hunt ripped up her flagship tax-cutting plan after his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng’s uncosted mini-budget caused financial turmoil.

Ms Truss told the Commons that she was ‘sorry’ and admitted she had ‘made mistakes’, adding: ‘But the right thing to do in those circumstances is to make changes, which I have made, and to get on with the job and deliver for the British people.’

The home secretary’s letter of resignation (Picture: Suella Braverman/Home Office/PA Wire)

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer mocked her U-turns and taunted the Conservatives as an ‘opposition in waiting’. He demanded: ‘What is the point of a prime minister whose promises do not even last a week? Why on earth would anyone trust the Tories with the economy ever again?’

The PM hit back with a promise to keep the pensions triple lock and increase payments by yesterday’s record 10.1 per cent inflation rate – hours after No.10 said it could not be guaranteed. But she refused to confirm benefits would also rise by inflation rather than earnings, at around six per cent.

Ms Braverman was replaced within minutes by Grant Shapps – sacked as transport secretary by Ms Truss six weeks ago and told there was ‘no room at the inn’.

Two days earlier, he had said Ms Truss was unlikely to survive as leader, telling a podcast: ‘She needs to thread the eye of a needle with the lights off. It’s that difficult.’

But Mr Shapps – who had supported her leadership rival Rishi Sunak – said it was a ‘great honour’ as he arrived at the home office last night. He told reporters: ‘I’m literally ten minutes into the job so I won’t comment on specifics but I accept that the government has had a difficult period.’

Downing Street sources suggested Ms Truss had wanted to appoint Sajid Javid but changed her mind after the furious ex-chancellor threatened to question her at PMQs over claims one of her aides briefed that his abilities are ‘s***’. Jason Stein – also accused of telling newspapers ex-housing minister Michael Gove is ‘a sadist’ – was last night suspended pending an investigation.

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said the government was falling apart at the seams. She added: ‘To appoint and then sack both your home secretary and chancellor within six weeks is utter chaos. This is no way to run a government.’

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called the Tories ‘opposition in waiting’ (Picture: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor)

Ms Braverman – the first Tory to enter this summer’s leadership race – quit after accidentally sending an official document to another MP from her own email account.

She wrote to Ms Truss: ‘I have made a mistake; I accept responsibility; I resign.’ But she questioned her ‘direction of travel’ adding: ‘Not only have we broken key pledges promised to our voters but I have serious concerns about this government’s commitment to honouring manifesto commitments such as reducing overall migration numbers and stopping illegal migration.’

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She had pledged to push through the government’s plan to send migrants who arrive illegally to Rwanda but Ms Truss is said to have demanded more permits for skilled migrants to help the economy.

This week she attacked ‘Guardian-reading, tofu-eating wokerati’ who opposed her Public Order Bill to stop demos such as Just Stop Oil bringing roads to a standstill.

Ms Braverman’s 43 days in the job make her the shortest-serving home secretary since the Duke of Wellington in 1834.

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It was quite a day.