Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
It’s another tough morning read for prime minister Liz Truss as even the pro-Tory press appears to have turned on her. The papers focus on the tearing up of the mini-Budget and suggest new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is now in charge – the morning splashes really want to highlight the PM has lost control of power.
All of the papers lead on Liz Truss and her government’s attempts to restore it economic credibility.
Liz Truss PM by name only
The pro-Tory press is not kind this morning.
The Sun says the PM say silently in the Commons as her new chancellor Jeremy Hunt ripped up the mini-Budget. The paper describes her as being “the ghost PM.”
The Daily Mail says watching the PM put on a “brave face” was “excruciating”.
The Daily Express looks at the performance of Jeremy Hunt who said he “showed signs of being someone who just might have the mettle to navigate the government through the choppy waters that lie ahead.” The paper’s front page leads with Truss’s apology, saying she is fighting to save her job.
The Daily Telegraph says the chancellor “disembowelled his boss with the calmness of an HR manager firing someone over Zoom.”
Whilst the Times’ Quentin Lett’s sketch calls the PM “a wraith in a state of shock.”
The left-leaning papers also did not hold back in their assessment.
The Financial Times describes the PM’s appearance at the Commons as “pale and motionless” as the new chancellor “read the last rites” on her economic plan.
“Humiliated” declares the Daily Mirror. Whilst the Guardian says Chancellor Hunt “shredded” the PM’s economic policies in one of the most astonishing U-turns in modern political history. And the i newspaper offered up an assessment of Hunt’s performance, saying he took charge.
Will Liz Truss save her job?
The papers are speculating as to the future of Liz Truss’s premiership.
The Telegraph says that Tory rebels have sped up plots to oust her from office. The paper goes on to say that the PM is expected to have a second meeting this week with Sir Graham Brady – a move that is “likely to be seen as an indicator that her position is now hanging by a thread.”
The Daily Mail’s editorial says the time has come for the party to decide whether the loss of confidence in the PM is “terminal.” If they decided it is, they must act fast.
The Sun’s comment piece says if the PM can’t sort herself out quickly then the “grown-ups” will need to agree on a “peaceful transition to a sensible figure.” The article says the thought of Truss at Wednesday’s PMQs is “almost tragic.”
The i is looking at who could replace her if she is forced out. The paper says opponents of the PM are still seeking a unity candidate – and whilst Rishi Sunak is a top contender, he is still seen as too divisive to rally the party. A former minister told the paper that if they find a unity candidate then Liz Truss will be “gone in a heartbeat.”
But the ever-faithful Daily Express reports that a government insider told them that the PM will survive because a replacement cannot be agreed on and there will be a “protracted death.”