Truss resignation won't solve anything: UK Foreign Secretary

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
19 Oct 2022 19:56

In such a scenario, that if Truss was to resign, the UK's most pressing challenges, namely the surge in prices and the energy crisis, would still remain.

UK PM Liz Truss

In James Cleverly's opinion, UK's Foreign Secretary, if Prime Minister Liz Truss was to resign, that wouldn't solve anything, Cleverly told Sky News on Wednesday.

The official noted that he understood very well people's frustration over the government's incompetencies. But if Truss was to resign, would that change anything? For Cleverley, the answer is an obvious "no" because there are no plans for further action.

Such was the case with Truss's predecessor, Boris Johnson.

A survey conducted by YouGov revealed on Tuesday that a meager 10% of Brittons who took part in the survey viewed Truss favorably despite the havoc her economic plan has caused.

Another survey conducted by the same firm showed that 55% of Conservative party members wanted her to resign.

Earlier today, Truss and UK Labour party, Keir Starmer took part in the weekly Questions to the Prime Minister session in the House of Commons to debate on attaintment so far.

After slamming Truss over her massive economic failures and growing tensions within her own party, Starmer sent a coup de grâce to Truss by asking parliament why had she not already resigned.

Truss's response was "Mister Speaker, I am a fighter, not a quitter," while stressing she always acted in the nation's interests.

Since former PM Boris Johnson had left office following a slew of scandals, expectations were set too high for Truss who can barely deal with important issues like inflation and the high costs of living. Prior to her victory over Finance Minister Rishi Sunak, Truss had promised to “deliver a bold plan to cut taxes and grow our economy" amid predictions of a recession in the UK.

Since ascending to her position as PM, Truss has been in an ongoing fight to hold her job, from failed promises to failing policies, with members of her own party decrying her as incompetent.

The mini-budget that was revealed on September 23 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwareng, included huge tax cuts funded by a significant increase in borrowing.

Initial announcements had led to a sharp slide in UK bonds and currency, where the Sterling hit a 41-year low against the dollar, the bonds rising at 4.6% which meant a decrease in demand for debt securities, and an extremely negative reaction from the financial markets to which the PM is accused of totally ignoring when it came to making major economic decisions. Kwasi Kwarteng resigned last Friday.

Yesterday, Truss issued an apology via the BBC for "mistakes" in her agenda that led her country to go even further down the crisis spiral, though she assured the British public that she is here to stay.

"I do want to accept responsibility and say sorry for the mistakes that have been made," she said, adding, "I wanted to act but to help people with their energy bills to deal with the issue of high taxes, but we went too far and too fast."

Earlier today, it was reported that British inflation rose back beyond 10% in September, with the Consumer Prices Index increasing to 10.1% on an annual basis, up from 9.9% in August, according to the Office for National Statistics.