Liz Truss latest news: ‘Same people’ who ousted Boris Johnson now gunning for PM, claims James Cleverly

James Cleverly was told that just last week Liz Truss had promised there would be no cuts to public spending but the arrival of Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor means that commitment has now been dropped. 

The Foreign Secretary said he would not speculate on what Mr Hunt will announce when he unveils the medium term fiscal plan on October 31 as he admitted the Tories’ poll ratings are currently “disconcerting”.  

He told Sky News: “The people who are criticising the Prime Minister, and I get why people are frustrated, we look at poll numbers, of course it is disconcerting if you are a member of the Government. But my contention is the best way of addressing those poll numbers is to demonstrate to the British people that we are focused on their priorities, we are delivering on their behalf and if we do that those numbers will head in the right direction instead of the wrong direction. 

“What I am not convinced by, far, far from convinced by, is that going through another leadership campaign, defenestrating another prime minister, will either convince the British people that we are thinking about them rather than ourselves or convince the markets to stay calm and ensure things like those bond yields and gilt yields start coming back down. Being angry I get. I totally get it, but that is an emotional response, it is not a plan.”