Liz Truss Cancels Key Policy
Dramatic change comes after rebel Conservative backlash.
Good morning and welcome back to Heaver News! Big breaking news this morning as Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng abandon a key plank of their mini-budget, the abolition of the 45p rate of income tax.
This comes after days of hysteria from some quarters and threats that rebel Conservative MPs were prepared to team up with Labour to block the move.
The climbdown comes amid a rocky start for Truss as Prime Minister and several of her own MPs being less than supportive.
When you look at British public opinion, there is large support for reducing the level of taxation in the UK. That includes support from both Conservative and Labour voters.
When it comes to specific measures in the mini-budget, several are actually very popular.
Big majorities of voters support the cap on energy bills, cut to the basic rate of tax, scrapping the NI increase and changes to stamp duty.
The now abandoned policy of cutting the top rate of income tax was backed by 32% of voters and opposed by 44%. So whilst it was not a particularly popular move, it wasn’t without support either.
The question now is how much damage has this u-turn done to the Truss Government?
The new PM said she was prepared to be unpopular in making what she believes to be the correct decisions for the country. But a high-profile policy has now been cancelled after a backlash.
One of those responding to the move this morning has been Nigel Farage, who said:
“A Truss U-turn on tax and an increase in both legal and illegal immigration points to a 1997 style wipeout. It will be fully deserved.”
Will Conservative voters agree?
Can Braverman Deliver?
A wide-ranging interview with Suella Braverman in The Sun saw the new Home Secretary admit that the illegal migration crisis has got “out of control” and that when it comes to legal migration “we've got is too many low skilled workers coming into this country”.
Liz Truss should listen to Braverman in tackling these issues. Recent reports that the new PM may be in favour of actually increasing immigration are absurd and would be massively unpopular.
If the Tories want to win another majority they should listen closely to what Braverman has to say and follow her lead.
The question is will the Home Secretary be allowed to get on and deliver the changes necessary, including exiting the ECHR?
Baker Apologises
Northern Ireland Minister Steve Baker issued an apology to the EU, saying:
“It is with humility that I want to accept and acknowledge that I and others did not always behave in a way which encouraged Ireland and the European Union to trust us, to accept that they have legitimate interests, legitimate interests that we are willing to respect.”
The most popular comment response on The Telegraph website reads:
“I bet the EU has not apologised to Steve Baker for their behaviour during Brexit though!”
It was way back in March that Baker was calling for the UK to trigger Article 16. Back then he said:
"We must now save the Belfast Agreement and restore power-sharing by doing what is necessary to bring Northern Ireland back into the UK single market.
“That means using the Article 16 safeguards immediately, before the Stormont elections.”
Instead of Truss immediately triggering Article 16 as was rumoured, it now looks like there will be months more of negotiations with the EU without much changing.
Comments From Paid Subscribers
As ever I do enjoy reading the comments from paid subscribers here on Heaver News. If you appreciate my newsletter, do consider upgrading.
I thought this was an interesting assessment from Adrian who said:
“Liz has done well on the economy and challenging Treasury orthodoxy despite the hysterical overreaction of the Establishment and MSM but it’s not all about the economy.
“Illegal immigration remains a festering sore and although we need a certain amount of legal targeted immigration to help our economy grow, Truss seems to be losing the plot. We have far too much Immigration already. Once again, Truss needs to communicate her strategy clearly rather than have us all fretting about whether those who voted for her as leader are about to be betrayed. Braverman, Badenoch and Frost need to exert more of their influence before Truss blows it.
“This dalliance with Macron’s European initiative is a further red flag. If after Boris’s betrayal Truss also let’s us down, there will be no holding-back the deep sense of anger from Brexiteers. It will be the second party leader I have voted for. Please don’t let us down a second time after showing such promise.”
I suspect many agree with Adrian, wanting to give Truss time to deliver. But there is no doubt she is under significant pressure. Some Tory MPs are already talking about bringing back Boris Johnson!
Another paid subscriber, Jim, had this to say about Truss apparently now attending Macron’s European Political Community:
“If Truss signs up to this Macron idea I’ll be finished with the Tory Party.”
To which another paid subscriber, Penny, responded:
“Jim, if it wasn't a two horse race, I'd have no hesitation in voting for The Reform Party and get at 70, I've been staunch Tory all my voting life. I know a lot didn't like her, but how I wish we had another Thatcher....a leader who actually loved her country!!”
Reform UK have big plans for the next election which I’ll reveal more about in the next edition of Heaver News!
When Globalists Rules undermine what the Govt do then it's time to vote Reform UK.