Government crisis in Great Britain: Chaotic vote in the House of Commons

The British government and the Tory party do not come to rest: a vote in the House of Commons is chaotic in the evening. Interior Secretary Braverman had previously resigned.

The situation in the ailing British government under Liz Truss continues to deteriorate after a chaotic vote in the House of Commons in the evening. Interior Secretary Suella Braverman had previously resigned. There was confusion over the alleged resignations of parts of the Tory faction leadership. First it was said that Chief Whip Wendy Morton, in charge of faction discipline, had resigned shortly after a vote in the House of Commons. Only late in the evening did the Prime Minister’s office make it clear: Morton and her deputy are still in office.

Chaos in voting on fracking ban

The Tory parliamentary group leadership had previously declared the vote to be a vote of confidence in the government. According to reports in the British media, the internal announcement was clear: Anyone who does not adhere to group discipline will be excluded. The government only backtracked at the last minute.

The vote involved a Labor motion to ban fracking. Prime Minister Truss recently lifted a moratorium on controversial and environmentally harmful fracking in order to make Britain less dependent on energy imports. .

But fracking is also unpopular with many Tories. Although they voted against the Labor motion by a large majority, many are said to have done so with great reluctance. In addition, according to parliamentary data, Prime Minister Truss herself did not take part in the vote.

Labor MPs such as Chris Bryant and other members of the opposition also accused Conservative MPs of being pushed in a certain direction, sometimes with shouts and shoves, and that they were not able to vote freely and unhindered.

Previously, the interior minister resigned

The Truss cabinet had previously lost the second minister within a few days. Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigned. She cited a mistake as the reason: she had sent an official government document via a personal email account. “I made a mistake, I take responsibility, I resign,” she wrote to the head of government. The letter to a parliamentary colleague was already largely public knowledge, but it was still a mistake.

Doubts about government course

She also has serious doubts about the course of the administration under Truss, Braverman wrote. Key election promises were broken. In particular, the right-wing hardliner criticized immigration policy: She had “great concerns about this government’s commitment to our election program, such as limiting the total number of immigrants and stopping illegal migration, especially the dangerous boat crossings”.

Braverman has repeatedly made a name for herself with statements about her plans for a tougher crackdown on deportations. She recently railed against “tofu-eating” leftists in parliament.

Successor is considered moderate and experienced

Braverman’s successor has already been chosen: Grant Shapps, Minister for Transport in Boris Johnson’s cabinet, has been appointed the new Home Secretary by Truss. The 54-year-old is seen as experienced and part of the Tories’ moderate wing. His appointment is therefore also seen as an attempt by Truss to unite larger parts of the party behind him again.

Prime Minister rejects own resignation

It was only on Friday that the prime minister, who was also under fire from within her own ranks, fired her finance minister, Kwasi Kwarteng. But Truss again rejected her own resignation: “I’m a fighter and not a shirker,” she replied in parliament when the leader of the opposition Labor Party, Keir Starmer, asked why she was still there at all. “I made it clear that I’m sorry and that I made mistakes,” said Truss.

Much trouble about tax plans

It was the first Question Time with the Prime Minister in the British House of Commons following her U-turn on tax plans last week and earlier this week. Truss has only been in office since the beginning of September. However, she is already under a lot of pressure. Due to a lack of counter-financing, your tax cut package had led to turbulence on the financial markets and to severe resentment in the ranks of the governing party.

As a result, Truss initially had her confidante, Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng, withdraw the planned tax cut for top earners. She released him on Friday. The new Treasury Secretary Jeremy Hunt almost completely overturned the planned financial package on Monday.