{"id":65527,"date":"2022-10-14T14:36:43","date_gmt":"2022-10-14T13:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/?p=65527"},"modified":"2022-10-14T14:36:43","modified_gmt":"2022-10-14T13:36:43","slug":"uk-prime-minister-truss-sacks-kwasi-kwarteng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/uk-prime-minister-truss-sacks-kwasi-kwarteng\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Prime Minister, Truss, Sacks Kwasi Kwarteng"},"content":{"rendered":"

British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday dismissed her Finance Minister, forcing Kwasi Kwarteng to carry the can for turmoil sparked by her right-wing economic platform as restive Conservatives plotted her own demise.<\/p>\n

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The chancellor of the exchequer was dismissed in person by Truss after he rushed back early from international meetings in Washington, multiple media reports said, and she was due later to hold her first Downing Street news conference.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There was no immediate announcement of his successor, who would become Britain\u2019s fourth Finance Minister this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Financial upheaval sparked by the new government\u2019s September 23 plan to slash taxes \u2014 financed via billions in more borrowing \u2014 has subsided somewhat since the Bank of England intervened in bond markets.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But the central bank was adamant it would end its bond-buying spree on Friday, and market analysts said only a bigger climbdown by Truss following Kwarteng\u2019s disastrous budget announcement last month would avert fresh panic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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No timing was given for Truss\u2019s news conference, but the announcement underscored the sense of peril as some Conservative MPs reportedly mobilised to unseat the new leader just five weeks since she succeeded Boris Johnson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Kwarteng was due to conclude annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington this weekend, after earning a rebuke from IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva on the need for \u201ccoherent and consistent\u201d policies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A Treasury spokesman confirmed Kwarteng had cut short the trip \u201cto continue work on his medium-term fiscal plan\u201d due on October 31, after Truss held hurried meetings with her own financial advisors on Thursday in his absence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As UK broadcasters showed live footage of Kwarteng\u2019s British Airways plane landing at Heathrow airport, government bond yields eased in a sign that markets did expect a volte-face.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Speculation was rife that Truss would row back on planned changes to corporation tax, having already changed her mind about cutting income tax for the highest earners.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The promised tax cuts were the centrepiece of Truss\u2019s successful pitch to Tory party members that she rather than rival Rishi Sunak was the best candidate to replace Johnson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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That programme now lies in tatters, and Truss\u2019s judgement is in question more than ever, after Sunak\u2019s warnings were entirely vindicated: higher borrowing to pay for tax cuts served only to terrify the markets and drive up borrowing costs for millions of Britons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Speaking in Washington on Thursday, Kwarteng had insisted that his job was safe. \u201cI\u2019m not going anywhere,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\nTruss has \u201ctotal confidence\u201d in her fellow free-marketeer, international trade minister Greg Hands told Sky News on Friday morning.<\/p>\n

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However, a new YouGov poll for The Times newspaper said 43 per cent of Conservative voters wanted a new Prime Minister in Downing Street.<\/p>

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Other polls show a mammoth lead up opening up for the opposition Labour party, threatening electoral meltdown for the Tories.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hands said, \u201cI don\u2019t recognise\u201d multiple reports that senior Tory MPs were plotting to unseat Truss by installing a new leadership team under her defeated rival Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, who also ran to succeed Johnson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Pressed on whether Truss will still be in 10 Downing Street in a week, Hands told ITV, \u201cOh definitely.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Chancellor of the exchequer\u2019s September 23 budget sparked markets chaos because of fears it would drive up state debt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The pound tumbled to a record dollar low near parity with the greenback and bond yields surged, before stabilising.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

With the Bank of England\u2019s costly interventions ending Friday, markets have already priced in a fresh about-turn by the government, leaving Downing Street with no room for manoeuvre.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo it now,\u201d Mel Stride, chairman of the Treasury select committee in the House of Commons, urged Kwarteng and Truss earlier Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it doesn\u2019t happen, then the markets may have an adverse reaction to that,\u201d he said on BBC television.<\/p>\n

Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, agreed with Stride\u2019s analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a sense of urgency in this move and it would seem the market is optimistic that Kwarteng\u2019s romcom-worthy dash through the airport suggests a dramatic reconciliation between stubborn existing policy and the U-turn investors have been waiting for,\u201d she commented.<\/p>\n

For many pundits, the self-inflicted damage risks proving terminal for Truss and her hard-right platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a government in meltdown and an economic policy in tatters, and frankly I think the Conservative party should be hanging their head in shame at what it\u2019s putting the country through,\u201d senior Labour MP Ed Miliband told Sky News.<\/p>\n

AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday dismissed her Finance Minister, forcing Kwasi Kwarteng to carry the can for turmoil sparked by her right-wing economic platform as restive Conservatives plotted her own demise<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":65528,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,624],"tags":[7156],"coauthors":[2391],"class_list":["post-65527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news","category-politics","tag-united-kingdom"],"yoast_head":"\nUK Prime Minister, Truss, Sacks Kwasi Kwarteng - National Wire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"British Prime Minister Liz Truss on Friday dismissed her Finance Minister, forcing Kwasi Kwarteng to carry the can for turmoil sparked\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalwire.com.ng\/sub\/uk-prime-minister-truss-sacks-kwasi-kwarteng\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UK Prime Minister, Truss, Sacks Kwasi Kwarteng - 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