ALLIES of Liz Truss have turned on Michael Gove telling Sunday newspapers that he is a “sadist,” “troubled,” and has a “darkness inside him.”
The personal attacks on the former minister are the latest salvos in a civil war tearing the Conservative party apart.
Mr Gove was seen as the ringleader of the rebellion against the Prime Minister’s plans to abolish the 45p tax cut rate. Last Sunday, he told the BBC it was a “display of the wrong values”.
Less than 24 hours later, Ms Truss and her Chancellor on Monday dropped the pledge.
The humiliating U-turn damaged the government’s authority, sparking yet more chaos and turmoil for the fledgling Tory leader.
Polls this week have put Labour 30 points ahead. If reflected at a general election it would lead to a near wipeout of the Tories.
A poll by Opinium in today’s Observer has put Ms Truss’s personal approval rating at minus 47, and Mr Kwarteng’s at minus 51.
There are more headaches to come for Ms Truss. Multiple reports this morning suggest the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will suggest her plans for boosting growth will only do so in a limited way, forcing Mr Kwarteng to find significant cuts in spending.
She also faces battles over how much to increase benefits. The Prime Minister is keen to hike them up by earnings, around 5.5 per cent, while a number of her cabinet colleagues want them uprated in accordance with inflation, which would be closer to 10%.
Mr Kwarteng, is reported to have put her chances of survival at “only 40-60” on Monday – although he denies the remarks.
With the party split, Home Secretary Suella Braverman, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Nadhim Zahawi, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt and Environment Secretary Ranil Jayawardena have all penned articles this weekend calling on the party to unite around Ms Truss.
Ms Braverman, who twice this week criticised the government’s position on tax cuts and immigrations, said: “Those working with Labour to undermine our Prime Minister are putting the Conservatives’ chance of victory at the next election in real danger.
“So the choice for my colleagues and for us is as party is simple: Back Liz or get Keir Starmer, hand-in-hand with Nicola Sturgeon.”
Ms Mordaunt, who has publicly supported increasing benefits in line with inflation also warned against a divide within party ranks.
Writing in The Sunday Telegraph, she said: “All my colleagues have a part to play in delivering for the British people. We need all talents helping our nation now. Division will only play into the hands of those who would take our country in the wrong direction.”
Downing Street sources told the Sunday Times, Mr Gove’s rebellion came after Ms Truss offered him a job as an ambassador.
They said he went to Birmingham and “stabbed the PM in the back”. A senior Conservative said: “Michael Gove is trying to destroy another Tory leader.”
A friend of Ms Truss told the paper: “Michael is troubled and has never found his place in the sun. There is something deeply troubling about the darkness inside him. It grips him and it takes over.
“It corrupts his soul. The more he plots, the more baggage he collects and the more conflicted he then becomes about who and what he is. His answer to everything is more tax, more salami slicing, more failed economics. The Tory party has rejected him.”
A No 10 aide told the Mail on Sunday: "Michael clearly gets his kicks in a sadistic way."
Grant Shapps, who warned that Ms Truss “has ten days” to turn things around, reported to have been in contact with both Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor.
He is also offering himself as a caretaker prime minister.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel