Liz Truss will face questions from Sir Keir Starmer and MPs today after being forced to ditch her entire economic strategy in a bid to hold on to her job.
Ms Truss will square off against the Labour leader at Prime Minister’s Questions this lunchtime.
It is the first time the Prime Minister will face questions since Chancellor Jeremy Hunt ripped up her plans for tax cuts and increased public borrowing.
The Prime Minister 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.
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, told the Telegraph it is “not the time to consider abandoning the triple lock” and that “maintaining the value of the state pension during the cost-of-living crisis is essential”.
After Ms Truss later hosted a reception for a selection of Tory backbenchers in Downing Street, one of the attendees said her position remains “precarious”.
Clacton MP Giles Watling told BBC Newsnight: “Of course it’s precarious, she knows that, we all know that.”
Former Cabinet minister Michael Gove said it was a matter of time before Ms Truss is ousted as Prime Minister as he warned Britons to expect “a hell of a lot of pain in the next two months”.
Asked at a private event on Tuesday whether it was no longer a question of whether Ms Truss goes, but when, Mr Gove agreed that was “absolutely right”, the Guardian reported.
What time does PMQs start today?
Prime Minister's questions will start at its usual time of 12pm and is expected to run for around half an hour.
How to watch PMQs as Liz Truss faces U-turn backlash
You can livestream the questions faced by the Prime Minister on usual channels.
BBC Parliament will be streaming PMQs via BBC iPlayer while Sky News will also be providing live coverage on Youtube.
You will also be able to watch along at Parliament Live TV.
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