Chaotic voting in Parliament
“It’s a shame” – Liz Truss slips out of control of the party and government
Liz Truss at Question Time in Parliament, London
© Jessica Taylor / AFP
British Prime Minister Liz Truss appears to be completely losing control of her government and her party. Chaotic scenes took place during a parliamentary vote. At times it was unclear whether there was still a group leader in the Tories.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss has come under further pressure in a chaotic vote in the House of Commons following the resignation of Home Secretary Suella Braverman. In the vote on Wednesday evening to lift the fracking ban, the parliamentary group leadership of the ruling Tories apparently put massive pressure on their own MPs. The government won the vote, but reports of resignations at the top of the group caused a stir.
British media reports said that the “Chief Whip” responsible for group discipline and her deputy had resigned in protest at an abrupt departure from the government’s initial demand for uniform voting behavior by Tory MPs. Downing Street was finally forced to take the unusual step late in the evening, with a statement clarifying that the two whips were still “in office”.
Opposition Labor MP Chris Bryant called for an official inquiry after the vote. Before the vote, he saw that Tory MPs in Parliament were sometimes pushed in a certain direction with shouts and shoves and could not vote freely and unhindered.
Truss has only been in office since the beginning of September
Truss has only been in office since the beginning of September. Nevertheless, she is already under massive pressure in her own party. Secretary of the Interior Braverman submitted her resignation on Wednesday. Braverman used her resignation letter to settle accounts with the PM. Important promises to voters have been broken, and she also has “great concerns about this administration’s commitment to our election manifesto, such as limiting the total number of immigrants and stopping illegal migration, particularly the dangerous boat crossings,” Braverman wrote. It is expected that the ex-interior minister will want to add more when she speaks in parliament this Thursday.
Only last Friday, Truss fired her Treasury Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, and replaced her with former Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt. On Monday, Hunt reversed almost all elements of its tax policy, which was only announced at the end of September. He announced that the energy price cap, which was actually intended for two years, would be limited to six months. Truss transferred Braverman’s post to ex-Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who is also considered to be experienced. But it is questionable whether she can save her office with this.
Before Parliament, she again rejected calls for her resignation. She was “a fighter and not a slacker,” said Truss.
In the conservative faction, nerves are stretched to breaking point. The chaos cast “a pathetic light on the Conservative Party and the current government in every respect,” MP Charles Walker told the BBC. There is no turning back from this situation, in his 17 years in Parliament he has never seen anything comparable. “It’s a mess and a disgrace. I’m incredibly shocked, I’m angry,” said Walker.