LIZ Truss’s bid to cling to power was last night rocked by a new revolt over the threat to the pensions triple lock.
It came as ex-Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said the Tory party is going through “hell” and it’s a matter of when not if she is removed.
Liz Truss’s bid to cling to power was last night rocked by a new revolt over the threat to the pensions triple lock
Michael Gove warned the country to expect ‘a hell of a lot of pain in the next two months’
Mr Gove said at a private event: “The question for any leader is what happens when the programme or the platform on which you secured the leadership has been shredded.”
He warned the country to expect “a hell of a lot of pain in the next two months”.
He said the PM’s job is “now a jobshare between Jeremy Hunt and the bond markets”.
And Gove added said “we all know now” why Truss had gained the nickname “the human hand grenade”.
No10 confirmed the 2019 manifesto promise on the triple lock — to increase pensions with either inflation, earnings or 2.5 per cent, whichever is higher — could be ditched in a bid to save billions of pounds.
Currently pensions would rise by around ten per cent from April, in line with inflation.
But, if Mr Hunt and No10 break the lock and raise them by the increase in wages instead, 12million retirees will suffer a real-terms cut.
Mr Hunt delivering a successful Halloween statement on spending cuts and tax rises is seen as key to Truss’s chances of survival.
But, in the first sign of rebellion, Tory MP Maria Caulfield said: “I’ll not be voting to end the triple lock.”
Another Tory MP said many colleagues wouldn’t vote for it, adding: “Pensioners should not be paying the price for the cost of living crisis, whether caused by the war in Ukraine or mini Budgets.”
Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth piled in: “Pensioners deserve so much better than Liz Truss and her disastrous mistakes.”
No10 said the PM and Chancellor “are not making any commitments on individual policy areas at this point”.
