From benefits to Brexit: the looming issues for Liz Truss
Liz Truss and her cabinet have launched a fresh bid for unity after the most difficult party conference the Conservatives have seen in years saw MPs and ministers openly attacking her policies.
However, the appeal for an end to infighting may only offer a temporary reprieve, given the headaches facing the prime minister this autumn.
Ahead of the next cabinet meeting on Tuesday, ministers are ready to ambush Truss with a bid for her to rule out benefits rising as much as wages – about 5%, which would be a real-terms cut, given inflation is nudging 10%.
Though the prime minister is said to want to keep firm on the former, it would be politically challenging for her.
In the aftermath of the mini-budget, a real-terms cut in benefits would only bolster the view that the government is neglecting lower earners, many of whom are forced to claim universal credit due to low-paid jobs.
According to the Institute for Government, the rate of universal credit is changed by secondary legislation, meaning there would be no way for MPs to vote against it. However, discontent from all levels of the party would be bad for unity and morale.
Bubbling away in the background is the Northern Ireland protocol bill, due to face its next reading in the House of Lords on Tuesday.
Some peers are planning to try to delay it indefinitely until an impact assessment is produced of Truss’s plans to unilaterally override the protocol.
However, the leader of the Democratic Unionist party has vowed to perpetuate political paralysis in Northern Ireland until the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU is overhauled through the bill, or negotiations with Brussels.
To help calm Tory MPs’ concerns, the Treasury is likely to bring forward the medium-term growth plan to be announced
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