Comment LONDON — Britain’s new finance minister scrapped the rest of Prime Minister Liz Truss’ tax policy on Monday, a move that appeared to successfully reassure markets but left many wondering who is now in charge of government. Truss remained on the sidelines while Jeremy Hunt — a political rival picked on Friday for the top cabinet post — announced the government would not cut taxes but allow them to rise. Truss left it to the leader of the House of Commons, Penny Mordant, another rival, to defend the government’s upheavals in Parliament, where both opposition MPs and some rebel politicians in the ruling Conservative Party are calling for the prime minister to resign after just six weeks office. It was another disastrous day for Truss. The first the public heard of her was on a BBC evening show. He said he wanted to “apologise for the mistakes made” but added he was “persevering” and “will lead the Conservatives into the next general election”. Liz Truss sacks finance minister as she reverses policies that sank pound Labor leader Keir Starmer promoted the refrain that Truss was “in office but not in power”. “Where’s the prime minister?” Starmer asked rhetorically. “She was hiding, avoiding questions, afraid of her own shadow.” Some commentators are talking about when it will go, not if. A British tabloid live-streams a head of iceberg lettuce placed next to a photo of Truss and asks which will last longer. An article in the Sunday Times said: “Trash has destroyed the Conservative Party’s reputation for fiscal prowess and humiliated Britain on the international stage.” “Senior Tories must now act in the national interest and get her out of Downing Street as quickly as possible,” the editorial continued, also calling Hunt a “defactor prime minister”. Hunt is a moderate Conservative who is considered a safe pair of hands, although he has twice lost contests to lead his party. He assured the country that Truss was “responsible”. “It is the most demanding form of leadership to accept the decision you have made must change,” he told Parliament. “And the prime minister did that, and she did it willingly because she understands the importance of economic stability and I respect her for that.” Why is Britain comparing its prime minister to lettuce? Truss installed himself in Downing Street as the choice of 160,000 dues-paying members of the Conservative Party — about 0.3 per cent of the population. The tax cut plan that helped propel her candidacy and drew admiring comparisons with Margaret Thatcher has now been completely scrapped. Tax cuts for the rich haven’t gone down well with a public facing record inflation and soaring bills. But the government’s face had much more to do with bond traders, who were spooked by the level of borrowing the plan would require. Hunt came after two of the most controversial parts of the plan had already been scrapped. And yet, he hit the brakes hard, stressing that debt and spending will be the new watchword. “We’re going to reverse almost all of the tax measures that were announced in the growth plan three weeks ago,” Hunt said. “There will be tougher decisions, I’m afraid, on both tax and spending as we deliver on our commitment to fall in debt as a share of the economy over the medium term.” Hunt also announced that the government’s popular scheme to help with household energy bills – a “landmark policy supporting millions of people in a difficult winter” – would not be continued for two years but would only last until April. The government will then move to a “new approach” that will “cost significantly less to the taxpayer”. Markets were receptive to the government’s backsliding. The decline in the British pound has stabilized. The country’s top stock index, the FTSE 100, was up. And the cost of government borrowing was falling — although still higher than before Truss took over. But British politics remain in turmoil. Although there is no general election in sight, two opinion polls published on Monday showed Labor more than 30 points ahead of the Conservatives. “Who voted for it?” The signs have appeared at protests and on the social media feeds of opposition MPs. There is also a handshake between the Conservatives. “Her position politically is completely untenable,” said Jonathan Tong, professor of politics at the University of Liverpool. “In any sane democracy he would have been gone by now.” “He campaigned on a platform of tax cuts, a push for growth and supply-side reform – every element of it was dismantled by Jeremy Hunt,” he said. If Truss survives, “it’s only because the bigwigs in the Conservative Party can’t agree on a replacement.” The Conservatives are known for ruthlessly ousting their leaders. Boris Johnson won them a landslide victory in the 2019 general election, but after scandals – and a Conservative turn in the polls – he was forced to resign. Truss’s personal polls are worse than Johnson’s, and her party’s ratings have fallen. People would look “very wrong” if the party held another leadership contest so soon, Damian Green, a prominent Conservative, admitted on BBC Radio 4. But asked if he wanted Truss to lead the party when the next general election was held, the Green suggested only regression. “If it gets us to the next election, it will mean that the next two years have been much more successful than the last four weeks.” Getting the Conservatives to rally around someone to replace Truss may indeed be a challenge. Although Hunt has assumed a powerful role, he is hardly a rising star within the party. He was soundly beaten by Boris Johnson in the 2019 Conservative leadership contest and was voted out in the first round of voting last summer after receiving just 18 votes from fellow MPs. A wing of the Conservatives would like to see the top job held by former finance minister Rishi Sunak, runner-up in the summer’s leadership contest. Many of his economic predictions have proven to be prescient. But he is disliked by Johnson’s loyalists, who accuse him of leading the rebellion that toppled the last prime minister. And conservative lawmakers may cause further problems if they bypass the party’s base by promoting Sunak. Mordaunt, who is more popular among the grassroots, has been mooted as another candidate. However, he wrote in the Sunday Telegraph that it was not the time for a change of prime minister. “Our country needs stability,” he said, “not a soap opera.” Over the weekend, President Biden was asked by a reporter what he thought of Truss’ “plan to back out.” US presidents typically don’t comment on an ally’s budget, but Biden weighed in, saying: “Well, it’s predictable. I wasn’t the only one who thought it was wrong.” He added: “I think the idea of ​​cutting taxes on the super-rich at a time when – well, I just think – I disagreed with the policy, but it’s for Great Britain to make that judgement, not me.”