Liz Truss' government in meltdown as top minister quits and Tory MPs squabble in parliament
Britain's interior minister quit on Wednesday with a broadside at Liz Truss before her lawmakers openly quarrelled in parliament, underscoring the erosion of the prime minister's authority after just weeks in the job.
The departure of Home Secretary Suella Braverman — she cited a "technical" breach of government rules — means Truss has now lost two of her most senior ministers in less than a week, both replaced by politicians who had not backed her for the leadership.
Hours after the resignation, lawmakers openly rowed and jostled amid confusion over whether a vote on fracking was a confidence vote in her administration.
Opposition parliamentarians complained that Truss's politicians were being manhandled to make them vote with the government.
Meanwhile there was confusion over whether or not two MPs responsible for Conservative Party discipline had quit their posts. "I'm not entirely clear on what the situation is," said Business minister Jacob Rees-Mogg when asked on television.
After hours of uncertainty, Downing Street said they were still in their jobs, but the episode illustrated the confusion in government and underscored the prime minister's faltering authority.
A handful of lawmakers have openly called for Truss to quit, and others have discussed who should replace her.
"Discipline is falling apart, we can't go on like this," one Conservative lawmaker told Reuters.
Another, Charles Walker, told BBC television he was "livid" at the "talentless people" who had put Truss into power, just because they wanted a job. "I think it is a shambles and a disgrace," he said, in a video that a couple of other Conservative lawmakers tweeted in agreement.
Truss, in power for just over six weeks, has been fighting for her political
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