I really want Conservative MPs to show some backbone...

So, Tory MPs have won their first victory over Truss and Kwarteng. But was the battleground well chosen? I’m not sure it was.

Obviously, proposing to reduce the top rate of tax at this particular juncture was tactically inept, and the outrage it caused was understandable (even though the effect of the change if implemented might well have been to increase the amount of tax revenue received from rich people). But it was a tiny part of the overall package, and the fact that it has now gone may tend to reduce criticism of the whole.

The main problem with the package is that it involves a very large reduction in taxation (actually, the reversal of the very large increases in taxation implemented or announced by the government over the last two years) together with a large increase in public expenditure due to the subsidising of energy prices, without any indication of how these things will be funded - indeed, it sometimes seems without any recognition that they need to be funded! All Tory MPs, whether friendly to Truss or not, ought to be challenging the government to make good that omission and demonstrate that they have a strategy for public spending and supply side reform. Some commentators have suggested that the u-turn on the top tax rate may embolden critics to attack the rest of the package. I fear that the reverse may be the case, and that criticism may reduce now that the most obviously unpopular element of the package has been removed. We shall see.

I AM broadly speaking a (moderate) fan of the Conservative Party and certianly want them to get rid
of her too.

In fairness, Sunak was the clear favourite of Tory MPs. But as we all know all politicians are terrified of their electors because we've enslaved ourselves to a dismembered sort of democracy, so they're going to have to keep her for at least a year I'd have thought. Maybe she'll just get stuck in a lift and they'll leave her there though. Here's hoping.

It’s interesting to think about how this might happen in practice. As I understand it, under present party rules Truss is immune from any challenge for 12 months (the rules could be changed, of course). The various tax changes don’t come before Parliament for some time, except for the reversal of the national insurance increase. It’s possible that the Opposition might table a motion condemning the government’s economic policy which enough Tory MPs would support. One (not very representative) Tory MP was speculating along those lines on Times Radio the other day. If that were to happen, Truss might resign, though I wouldn’t be sure about that. Alternatively following a government defeat on an economic motion there might be a motion of no confidence in the government. Would enough Tory MPs be willing to support such a motion to pass it? Probably not, though it’s not impossible.

It rather makes one yearn for the old days, when the Conservative Party didn’t bother with boring things like votes. A PM who was so unpopular as Truss seems to be would have been locked in a smoke-filled room by the men in suits and not let out until he (it would have been a he) had agreed to change or resign.

How much support does the "Libertarian" faction have? Is it possible the majority of Tories think she is right? Or are her lot just a loud minority in the party?

Rightwingers doing the sensible thing instead of letting everything burn down in order to rule on the ashes? Is this even a thing? 🥴 /s

I am quietly confident that sufficient numbers of MPs will defy the whip to vote against the enabling finance bill and then this government will effectively be dead in the water.

I thought her comments about the reaction of the financial markets to her mini budget was truly Trump-esque. And if she can't take the hint from that overwhelming show of no confidence, how much value will she place in a democratic mandate?

I feel for you. We were also hoping the GOP would grow a backbone. They did not

GROT! Get Rid Of Truss!

I don't disagree with you but they will keep her and the tax cuts for their mates because they don't give a feck about the country. We are fucked.

The next United Kingdom general election is scheduled to be held no later than January 2025 – that's a lot of time. 😕

Asking them to have backbone is asking a lot, you might as well be asking them to resurrect Queen Elizabeth.

They got elected on Brexit and levelling up both gone titsup !!

so, the old shagger wasn't so bad after all?

Sounds like your Conservative party is going through the exact same crisis as our Republican party.

So, Bozo BoJo isn't looking so bad now, huh? I feel for you.