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

...and get rid of Liz Truss now, before even more damage is done. To state the obvious, I am no fan of the Conservative Party and I'm pretty happy with polling that shows them getting hammered in the next general election. Their self-immolation is taking the country down with them though. And that is something that I care about more.

I don't care if it's for the wrong reasons. Maybe they are more concerned about losing their seats than the general good of the country or whatever but Conservative MPs are the only people who can stop this. Our economy is already fragile and a lot of people are struggling badly. If the tax plans go through, it will mean debt and destitution for millions.

Lesser-evil arguments do sometimes make a big difference so get Sunak in or Johnson back now and don't leave it a year until the damage is irreparable. Sadly, Truss and Kwarteng have delayed publication of the official analysis of their tax plan until November, which is probably enough to keep them hanging in.

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MartinII · 70-79, M

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.