The Prime Minister is expected to hold off on launching her promised “supply-side reforms” as Parliament returns to work after a two-week recess during the party conferences....
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2022-10-09T16:44:21Z
Instead she will focus on convincing backbenchers to unite around her leadership despite the Tories’ poor position in the opinion polls and increasingly public rows over economic policy.
The House of Commons will return tomorrow with further details of the Government’s energy support package set to be revealed in legislation published on Wednesday.
This week could also see confirmation that Kwasi Kwarteng’s “medium-term fiscal plan”, and the accompanying economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility, will be published earlier than the 23 November date currently scheduled.
And on Friday, the Bank of England will end the programme under which it buys up to £5bn of Government bonds each day – a move which may risk further markets turbulence.
Supply-side reforms including changes to planning laws, immigration rules and business regulations will be announced from the second half of October. Economists regard the announcements as significantly more important to stimulating growth than Mr Kwarteng’s tax cuts, but they could prove controversial among Conservative MPs.
Ms Truss will hold her second ever full Cabinet meeting tomorrow, then take part in Prime Minister’s Questions the next day – also for only the second time. On Wednesday evening she is expected to address the 1922 Committee of backbench MPs.
A Government source told
Multiple Cabinet ministers published articles in Sunday newspapers calling for unity after a Tory conference which saw open rows over issues such as the top rate of tax and whether to increase benefits in line with inflation.
Nadhim Zahawi, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told Sky News: “We’ve got two years to demonstrate to the nation that we can deliver – deliver the growth plan, deliver the energy strategy that weens us off the expensive oil and gas being imported to the United Kingdom by investing in nuclear, investing in offshore wind, onshore wind, and of course, other renewables. I want my colleagues to obviously focus because any dither or delay will end in defeat.”
Ex-Chancellor George Osborne warned that “a Tory wipeout is potentially on the cards” at the next election, telling Channel 4: “It’s a bit like the political experiment has blown up the chemistry lab.”
Mel Stride, chairman of the Commons Treasury committee, told Times Radio that the atmosphere was “fairly febrile”, adding: “There are a lot of backbenchers and indeed members of the Government who are very concerned at where we are in the polls. We’ve got two years to a general election. There’s a recognition that we’ve got to turn things around and start doing it very quickly.”