However, the grim faces of Tory MPs behind her in the House of Commons showed Trass faces an uphill battle to save her job. Hours after Trass appeared in parliament for a regular “Prime Minister’s Questions” session, a senior member of her government left her post amid a barrage of criticism. Interior Secretary Suella Braverman said she resigned after breaking the rules by sending an official document from her personal email account. In her resignation letter, Braverman said she had “concerns about the direction of this government” and – in a thinly veiled attack on Truss – said “the work of government is based on people accepting responsibility for their mistakes”. “Pretending that we haven’t made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can’t see that we’ve made them, and hoping that things turn out right is not serious politics,” he said. Braverman is a popular figure on the right wing of the Conservative Party and an advocate of more restrictive immigration policies. Her departure comes days after the Trust sacked its finance chief, Kwasi Kwarteng, on Friday after the pair’s economic package spooked financial markets when it was announced on September 23. The plan’s 45 billion pounds ($50 billion) of unfunded tax cuts sent financial markets into turmoil, hitting the value of the pound and raising the cost of UK government borrowing. The Bank of England was forced to step in to prevent the crisis spreading to the wider economy and putting pension funds at risk. Truss attended her first Prime Minister’s Questions session after Kwarteng’s replacement, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, scrapped the package of tax cuts unveiled by her new government less than a month ago. She apologized to parliament and admitted she had made mistakes during her short tenure as head of the UK government, but insisted that by changing course she had “taken responsibility and made the right decisions in the interests of the country’s economic stability”. Opposition MPs chanted “Resign!” as he spoke. Asked by opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer, “Why is he still here?” Truss replied, “I’m a fighter, not a quitter. I acted in the national interest to ensure we have economic stability.” On Monday, Hunt scrapped almost all of Truss’s tax cuts, along with her flagship energy policy and her promise of no cuts in public spending. He said the government would need to save billions of pounds and there were “a lot of tough decisions” to be made before he produced a medium-term budget plan on October 31. Official data released on Wednesday showed UK inflation rose to 10.1% in September, returning to a 40-year high for the first time in July, as rising food costs squeezed household budgets. While inflation is high around the world – due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on energy supplies – polls show most Britons blame the government for the country’s economic pain. Opponents also accuse the Conservative government of sowing chaos with policy confrontation. On Wednesday, the Trust reassured pensioners that pensions would continue to rise in line with inflation – less than 24 hours after its spokesman said the government was considering lifting the exact pledge as it seeks to cut public spending. With opinion polls giving Labor a large and growing lead, many Conservatives now believe their only hope of avoiding electoral oblivion is to replace Truss. But she insists she is not resigning, and lawmakers are divided over how to get rid of her. New foreign secretary James Smart urged the Conservatives to give Mr Truss another chance, saying “mistakes happen”. “What you have to do is recognize when they have happened and have the humility to make changes when you see things have gone wrong,” he said. Truss faces another test in parliament later Wednesday when lawmakers vote on a Labor motion seeking to ban fracking for shale gas – a policy Truss recently endorsed. Conservative party whips said the vote would be treated as a “motion of confidence in the government”, meaning the government would fall if the motion was passed, triggering an election. A majority of 70 Conservatives makes that unlikely, but the vote will be closely watched for signs of dissent over the Trus leadership. Truss’s press secretary said the prime minister was “not resigning” and was in a “resolute” mood. A national election is not due until 2024. Truss on Wednesday appeared to rule out calling an early election, saying “what’s important is that we work together … to get through this winter and protect the economy.” Under Conservative Party rules, Truss is safe from a leadership challenge for a year, but the rules can be changed if enough lawmakers want it. There is feverish speculation as to how many lawmakers have already submitted letters of no confidence. Some conservative lawmakers believe Truss could be forced to step down if the party agrees on a successor. Currently, there is no frontrunner. Defeated Conservative leadership challenger Rishi Sunak, House of Commons leader Penny Mordant and popular Defense Secretary Ben Wallace have supporters, as does Hunt, who many already see as de facto prime minister. Some even favor the return of Boris Johnson, who was ousted in the summer after being embroiled in ethics scandals. He smartly said he understood why colleagues were angry, but said “defending another prime minister” was wrong.
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