UK PM insists she won’t resign after sacking Kwasi Kwarteng
Liz Truss insisted she would not resign after sacking Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor and replacing him with Jeremy Hunt as she announced a major U-turn on her mini-Budget.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, the Prime Minister said: “I have acted decisively today because my priority is ensuring our country’s economic stability. As Prime Minister I will always act in the national interest.”
Asked if she would resign, she replied: “I am absolutely determined to see through what I have promised.”
Ms Truss said that parts of the mini-Budget “went further and faster than markets were expecting” as she confirmed she had ditched her proposal to scrap a planned corporation tax hike.
Ms Truss previously pledged to scrap the corporation tax hike from 19 per cent to 25 per cent which had been scheduled for April next year by Rishi Sunak when he was chancellor. That rise will now go ahead as planned.
What a difference a day makes. Just over 24 hours ago, Kwasi Kwarteng was “absolutely, 100 per cent” sure he would still be the chancellor this time next month. Of course, there are no certainties in politics.
Still, few could have foreseen Liz Truss’s ruthless sacking of a man who has long been aligned with her ideology. The Prime Minister refused to resign herself during a press conference that lasted less than nine minutes, and seems to be betting the house on Mr Kwarteng carrying the can for a mini-Budget poorly received by the markets and the public.
