Tory nerves are growing over Truss’s tax cuts

Tory nerves are growing over Liz Truss’s economic plans. As the fallout from Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s not-so-mini-budget continues to dominate the news, the Prime Minister has doubled down. In a pool clip this afternoon, Treasury minister Andrew Griffith has rejected calls for the government to row back on Friday’s fiscal event – insisting Truss’s plans are the ‘right plans’ to grow the UK economy. Government sources have also made it clear that Truss has no plans to part ways with her Chancellor.

Yet Truss could still be forced to look again. Unease is building on the backbenches over her economic strategy. This evening, former chief whip Julian Smith has gone public with his concerns: ‘It is critical that the government is honest about the current situation and plays its part in stabilising markets. It can keep a growth plan but needs to make changes. Not doing so will only continue further stress and strain on UK citizens.’

Smith’s call for changes to the growth plan is echoed privately by a growing number of Tory MPs. There is particular disquiet over the plan to abolish the 45p rate of tax for high earners. ‘They need to change tack,’ says a former cabinet minister. Others are calling for Kwarteng to go as a way to regain market confidence. However, given this is Truss’s economic strategy, it’s unclear this would have the desired effect. A handful of MPs are venting that Truss should go – however, the majority currently take the view it would be madness to try to depose a leader so soon.

Even if Truss does manage to stay on course, she is losing political capital – and that means pushing through supply side reform that relies on tricky votes in the House of Commons will be even harder.