Most Tory MPs went to bed last night convinced that their party was heading for an almighty showdown over the 45p tax rate. In the bars and parties of the conference in Birmingham, both Conservatives who were loyal to Liz Truss and those who were less-than-loyal were confident of one thing: she wouldn’t fold quickly.
‘She’s got one thing left which is her reputation as someone who doesn’t turn,’ one backbencher said to me. ‘If she loses that then she loses that credit with the public, and my colleagues will stop trusting that they can go on the airwaves and defend what she’s doing.’ They are waking to a big surprise: as Katy Balls covers here, the Chancellor has U-turned on the 45p as an unnecessary distraction. One pro-Truss MP who woke up to the news this morning, says: ‘She’s going to have real trouble now because those who’ve supported her with this will be as pissed off as those who can’t stand her!’
MPs are still scarred from the loss of their dignity when Johnson was leader.
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