Liz Truss faces tough clash with Sir Kier Starmer at PMQ's amid mini-budget turmoil

19.10.2022 - 10:05 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Liz Truss faces a tough clash with Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister's Questions today, having been forced to junk her entire economic strategy and with her leadership in peril.

The Prime Minister will face the Labour leader for the first time since her new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ripped up her economic plans, including policies for tax cuts and increased public borrowing, in a bid to get the public finances back on track and stabilise financial markets after weeks of turmoil following the mini-budget. PMQ's will also come amid more gloomy news, as the Office of National Statistics announced this morning that inflation rose to 10.1 per cent in September.

Ms Truss faces disquiet from Tory MPs over plans for public spending cuts across all departments, after Mr Hunt warned of decisions of 'eye-watering difficulty' to plug the government’s multibillion-pound financial black hole. He is considering postponing by a year the cap on the sum people pay for care in old age, The Times reported.

READ MORE: How the mini-Budget U-turn will affect your energy bills, mortgages, and more

Treasury sources did not deny the policy could be delayed, pointing to the Chancellor’s statement that 'nothing is off the table'. An admission from Downing Street that Ms Truss could ditch the key manifesto commitment to increase state pensions in line with inflation sparked a swift backlash.

Her official spokesperson said she is 'not making any commitments on individual policy areas' ahead of the Chancellor’s fiscal plan on October 31. Tory backbencher Maria Caulfield said she 'will not be voting to end the pensions triple lock', with former minister Steve Double joining her in saying: “Nor me.”

Stephen Crabb, the former work and pensions secretary,