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British Prime Minister Liz Truss resigned today after just 44 days in office, sending the country’s parliament into chaos and making it the laughing stock of the world. 

Truss only took over from former leader Boris Johnson on September 6 after winning an internal Conservative Party leadership contest. She quickly lost the faith of the party to such an extent that she was deemed unfit to lead last night in a wave of no confidence letters from colleagues.

As a result, she announced her resignation today on the steps of 10 Downing Street

Her brief time in office is the shortest in modern political history. The British public have been left stunned and red-faced by the upheaval, with many now questioning who the next leader will be. 

Boris Johnson, who was himself forced to resign after losing the confidence of the party, is said to be mulling a return. Sources say he plans to throw his hat into the ring again for re-election. 

Whoever takes office will become the second unelected Prime Minister in less than two months. Truss assured on Thursday that the process would be completed within a week. 

President Biden, who met Truss as Prime Minister once, said: ‘The United States and the United Kingdom are strong Allies and enduring friends — and that fact will never change. 

‘I thank Prime Minister Liz Truss for her partnership on a range of issues including holding Russia accountable for its war against Ukraine. 

‘We will continue our close cooperation with the U.K. government as we work together to meet the global challenges our nations face.’ 

After just 44 days in No10 - the shortest term in modern political history - the PM took to a lectern outside the famous black door to confirm her departure

After just 44 days in No10 – the shortest term in modern political history – the PM took to a lectern outside the famous black door to confirm her departure

Biden, who sat down with Truss at the UN Assembly in New York last month, has not yet responded to the news of her resignation this morning

Biden, who sat down with Truss at the UN Assembly in New York last month, has not yet responded to the news of her resignation this morning 

The British pound is now at its lowest rate to the dollar since 1985. It dropped 32 percent on Thursday after Truss's resignation

The British pound is now at its lowest rate to the dollar since 1985. It dropped 32 percent on Thursday after Truss’s resignation

Truss’s undoing was largely driven by a farfetched tax plan that sent the markets tumbling. 

COULD A US MARKET CRASH HAPPEN LIKE IN THE UK? FED AND BIDEN ADMINS KEEPING ‘CLOSE TABS’ ON ECONOMY

Officials in the Biden administration and within the Federal Reserve are keeping ‘close tabs’ on whether a market crash like the one seen in the UK may be on the horizon here in the US. 

In the UK, The Bank of England was forced to buy bonds to ease panic in the markets after Truss revealed an economic growth plan that proposed widespread tax cuts, but gave no information about how she might pay for it elsewhere. 

The value of the pound against the dollar has steadily declined and today hit its lowest since 1985. 

The New York Times reports that officials remain confident the US will not be hit in the same way that the UK has. 

However they’re keeping ‘close tabs’ on the markets here to anticipate any shockwaves. 

‘In the market, there is a lot of worry, and everyone is saying it feels like something is about to break,’ Roberto Parli told the Times.  

Biden called Truss’s proposed cuts ‘a mistake’ earlier this week before her departure. 

He said he ‘wasn’t the only one’ who thought as much, in a sign that other world leaders felt the same.

‘I wasn’t the only one that thought it was a mistake. I think that the idea of cutting taxes on the super-wealthy at a time when … I disagree with the policy, but it’s up to Britain to make that judgment, not me,’ he said. 

White House Economic Adviser Cecilia Rouse said last week that the US was ‘better positioned than most other countries for the Fed to achieve its goals.’ 

She had promised an unprecedented period of growth to revive the economy, but the pound sank as economists questioned how she would pay for it. 

Biden, who met Truss once on September 21, is yet to comment.  

A series of previously-loyal MPs joined calls for her to go this morning. Even supportive Cabinet ministers had been conceding the situation is ‘terminal’.

Events accelerated after another bout of madness at Westminster yesterday culminated in stories of tears and tantrums in Parliament, with Ms Truss allegedly engaging in a shouting match with her own enforcers.

Truss’s resignation on Thursday came after a wave of resignations from senior ministers throughout the week. 

Suella Braverman resigned as Home Secretary, admitting using of her personal email to campaign against the government’s own immigration policy. 

She also hit out at Truss for ditching key policies, suggesting she should also quit for ‘mistakes’, in her departure. 

Last night Conservative MPs were confident that between 50 and 100 letters of no confidence had been submitted to Sir Graham, despite current rules stating the committee cannot hold a vote of confidence in Liz Truss for a year after her appointment. 

And in another hit for the PM, Tory MP William Wragg confirmed within the House of Commons that he was one of those who has submitted a letter. There are now at least 14 Tory MPs on the record who have said Truss can’t continue.

Recent polling shows Truss has lower approval ratings than both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn at any time during their time as leader of their parties. 

After the government declared yesterday morning that the vote on banning fracking was an issue of confidence and all Conservative MPs had to vote against the motion, raucous scenes ensued after Climate Minister Graham Stuart at the last minute told the Commons it was not a confidence motion after all.

Deputy chief whip Craig Whittaker had written to Conservatives telling them it is a ‘100 per cent hard 3 line whip!’

‘We cannot, under any circumstances, let the Labour Party take control of the order paper and put through their own legislation and whatever other bits of legislation they desire,’ he said.

‘We are voting NO and I reiterate, this is a hard 3 line whip with all slips withdrawn.’ 

The last-minute withdrawal of this caused Chief Whip Wendy Morton to storm out of the Chamber, before reportedly publicly declaring ‘I am no longer the Chief Whip’ while standing just a meter away from the PM.

While Tory MPs were originally telling reporters that both the Chief Whip and her Deputy, Craig Whittaker, had quit their roles and handed in resignation letters, confusion soon intensified after it was reported Liz Truss followed Ms Morton and pulled her into an intense meeting to prevent her quitting.  

Mr Whittaker reportedly declared as he walked out of the division lobby: ‘I am f***ing furious and I don’t give a f*** any more.’

For several hours, no-one from the government could confirm or deny the claims that both the top whips had resigned. When pressed on issue, Business Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg said he was ‘not clear’ what the ‘situation’ with the whips was. 

By 9pm, Ms Coffey was telling reporters outside the Carlton Club – where with exquisite timing the entire Cabinet was due to attend a dinner for the centenary of the agreement that sunk Lloyd George’s government – that Ms Morton had won a ‘great victory’ by defeating the Labour motion. 

No10 confirmed at 9.49pm that the pair were indeed remaining in post. 

The Carlton Club bash was originally due to be black tie, but was downgraded to avoid pix of the Cabinet looking too decadent on day huge inflation figures were unveiled. 

‘If only that was our biggest problem,’ said one source. 

There were extraordinary scenes within Westminster as Tory MPs were left in chaos after the apparent u-turn on the ‘confidence’ vote, leaving them unsure whether they could now abstain or vote against without losing the whip. 

Multiple MPs claim they witnessed shouting and screaming amongst Conservative MPs and senior ministers, while the senior members of the whip’s office were nowhere to be seen. 

The barely believable scenes in the division lobbies – captured on camera by Labour MP Chris Bryant in defiance of Commons rules – were the latest evidence of the wheels falling off Liz Truss’s administration

The barely believable scenes in the division lobbies – captured on camera by Labour MP Chris Bryant in defiance of Commons rules – were the latest evidence of the wheels falling off Truss’s administration.

Labour had tabled a motion trying to ban fresh drilling and Tory whips told backbenchers it was a ‘confidence motion’ that could in theory bring down Truss. They threatened to kick rebels out the party if they did not vote with the Government.

No Tories voted against the government but 40 abstained – including Kwasi Kwarteng, who was chancellor until last week. Commons records show Truss abstained, although there are now claims that is a mistake and she did vote with the government.

Ms Truss responded with a much briefer letter saying it is 'important the Ministerial Code is upheld'

Ms Truss responded with a much briefer letter saying it is ‘important the Ministerial Code is upheld’

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said: ‘Late in the day, a junior official at 10 Downing Street sent a message through to the front bench that it was not a vote of confidence and nobody else was aware of that.

‘The whips were not aware of that, I was not aware of that and most members thought that it was a vote of confidence. It was simply one of those unfortunate miscommunications that occasionally happens.

Labour MPs reported screaming and shouting and Tory MPs being dragged in to vote with the Government. 

Speaking in the chamber afterwards, former minister Chris Bryant said: ‘I would urge you to launch an investigation into the scenes outside the entrance to the no lobby earlier. 

‘As you know, members are expected to be able to vote without fear or favor and the behavior code which is agreed by the whole of the House says there shall never be bullying or harassment.

‘I saw members being physically manhandled into another lobby and being bullied. If we want to stand up against bullying in this House of our staff, we have to stop bullying in this chamber as well.’

Later on Sky he directly accused Deputy PM Therese Coffey and Mr Rees-Mogg of manhandling MP Alex Stafford into the voting lobby, though he described it as a ‘heated exchange’.

But Stafford later commented on Twitter that ‘no-one pushes me around’ in a denial of Labour’s version of events.

Nevertheless, dozens of opposition MPs shared their own eyewitness accounts on social media during and shortly after the voting period which appeared to back up the allegations, including government whips ‘screaming’, Therese Coffey ‘practically picking up’ another MP to walk them through the ‘No’ lobby, and multiple MPs in tears.

Shadow minister Anna McMorrin wrote on Twitter that she witnessed an MP ‘in tears’ in the lobby. 

A Tory MP who witnessed the height of the chaos said: ‘I was waiting for the votes and then Craig Whittaker came out crying and saying he’s sick of everything. Then Wendy came out stony faced. The other whips say they have quit. It was absolute carnage.’ 

Truss eventually won the vote by 326 to 230 but among the chaos Chief Whip Wendy Morton also abstained.

One miserable Cabinet source told MailOnline: ‘At this rate I’m going to be PM by Christmas. The writing was on the wall for Wendy since the day of her appointment.’ 

Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said he was ‘not entirely clear what the situation is with the chief whip’.

Conservative MP Sir Charles Walker, MP for Broxbourne since 2005, told the BBC: ‘This whole affair is inexcusable. It is a pitiful reflection on the Conservative Party.’ When asked whether there is a way back for the government, Walker said: ‘I don’t think so.’

He added: ‘This is an absolute disgrace.

‘I think it’s a shambles and a disgrace. I think it is utterly appalling. I am livid.

‘I hope all those people who put Liz Truss in No.10 I hope it was worth it. […] Because the damage they have done to our party is extraordinary.’

‘I’ve had enough. I’ve had enough of talentless people putting their tick in the right box, not because it’s in the national interest, but because it’s in their personal interest.’ 

Later he added: ‘I expect the prime minister to resign very soon because she’s not up to her job.’

Hours earlier Home Secretary Suella Braverman was forced to resign yesterday, ostensibly for breaching protocol by sending an email from her personal account to a contact revealing details of an announcement on immigration policy.

Downing Street said Mrs Braverman, the shortest serving Home Secretary of modern times, had resigned after sending a confidential document to a Tory MP in breach of the ministerial code.

But multiple sources said her departure followed a ‘fiery’ 90-minute meeting between her and Miss Truss in No 10 the previous night at which the Home Secretary warned the PM it would be ‘insane’ to relax immigration rules in order to boost economic growth.

In an explosive resignation letter last night Mrs Braverman suggested that the PM should quit and savaged her record.

‘It is obvious to everyone that we are going through a tumultuous time,’ she wrote. 

‘I have concerns about the direction of this Government. Not only have we broken key pledges that were promised to our voters, but I have had serious concerns about this Government’s commitment to honouring manifesto commitments, such as reducing overall migration numbers.’ 

She swiped that when people made ‘mistakes’ – something Ms Truss has admitted – the right thing to do was quit.

Ms Truss responded with a much briefer letter saying it is ‘important the Ministerial Code is upheld’ and quickly installed Grant Shapps – previously a strident critic and Rishi Sunak supporter – as a replacement. 

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On Monday of this week, Mr Shapps publicly said that if Ms Truss were to save her premiership, she would need to ‘thread the eye of a needle with the lights off’.

Ms Braverman was under pressure to sign off a plan to liberalise migration rules to help boost the economy, as part of Ms Truss’s drive for growth. The former minister appears to have sent an email with details of the proposed policy to a parliamentary staffer, with speculation she could have been trying to sabotage it. 

One Tory MP close to Ms Braverman told MailOnline of the security breach: ‘It’s the kind of thing that you give a wrap on the knuckles and carry on – unless you want to get rid of someone.’

The MP said Ms Braverman ‘wasn’t happy over their stance on immigration’, and also warned more resignations could be imminent. ‘I get the impression we’re going to get an avalanche.’ 

Mr Shapps did not offer any solace to Ms Truss as he spoke outside the Home Office late on Thursday, stressing his duty is to keep the country secure. ‘It’s been a turbulent time for the government. The most important thing is for the people of the country to know that they have got security.’ 

MPs yesterday described the Cabinet as a ‘caretaker’ government, and many do not believe that Ms Truss can even survive until the Halloween Budget regardless of divisions over who should take over. 

After another difficult PMQs, during which she stunned the house by performing yet another u-turn in announcing she was committed to the pensions triple lock, Ms Truss abruptly cancelled a visit to an aerospace firm earlier without giving a reason beyond ‘government business’.

She is now facing Tory mutiny on a bewildering range of issues.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt addressed the Conservative 1922 committee last night, and is said to have quipped, ‘this sh** would be interesting if I wasn’t in the middle of it’ – a quote from Barack Obama. 

Northern Ireland Secretary Steve Baker was sent out on TV to insist Ms Braverman was not attacking the premier, and would still be Home Secretary if not for the security issue.

He said he hoped that she would be brought back into government in the New Year. 

Ms Braverman has repeatedly been embroiled in controversy since taking over at the Home Office. 

At the Tory conference she complained about the 45p tax rate being kept, and said she wanted Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights. She has also suggested that rules on visas for Indian nationals should not be relaxed, seemingly torpedoing a mooted trade deal. 

Earlier this week she attacked the ‘tofu-eating wokerati’ for effectively preventing police from arresting eco-zealots who have caused mayhem and misery during weeks of protest.

The PM’s press secretary shrugged off the latest intervention this afternoon, saying Ms Braverman had a ‘way with words’. 

In front of a gloomy Tory rank-and-file in the Commons during yesterday’s PMQs, a clearly-rattled Ms Truss admitted she was ‘sorry’ and had ‘made mistakes’.

But despite Keir Starmer joking that she will be ‘out by Christmas’ after her ‘fantasy economics ended in disaster’, Ms Truss insisted she will not resign. 

‘I am a fighter not a quitter,’ she said, echoing a famous line from Labour’s Peter Mandelson.

The clashes came as inflation surged back into double-digits with food prices heaping more pain on hard-pressed Britons.

The government had been hinting that pensioners faced real-terms cuts as part of a desperate £40billion spending squeeze – but Ms Truss tried to kill off the issue by declaring she will stick to the triple lock. ‘I am completely committed to it, so is the Chancellor,’ she said as Jeremy Hunt watched from beside her on the the green benches.

However, she pointedly stopped short of making the same promise on uprating benefits, another area where Tories are threatening to revolt.

Steve Double warned she could only have ‘days’ left as he called her position ‘untenable’, while William Wragg said he had sent a letter of no-confidence to the 1922 committee chief Graham Brady.

Sir Graham is believed to have informed the premier that more than 50 Tories have privately sent him no-confidence letters. 

Ms Truss told MPs: ‘I have been very clear that I am sorry and that I have made mistakes.’

Amid shouts of ‘resign’, she added: ‘The right thing to do in those circumstances is to make changes, which I have made, and to get on with the job and deliver for the British people.’

Former Cabinet minister Sajid Javid had been slated to ask a question at PMQs, but apparently pulled out at the last minute. As the session began reports emerged that Ms Truss’s senior aide Jason Stein has been suspended pending an investigating into briefing. There was a vicious barb at Mr Javid over the weekend claiming he was not offered the Chancellor job because the PM regarded him as ‘sh**’.

The PM’s press secretary said this afternoon: ‘I am not going to get into individual staffing matters but the Prime Minister has made very clear to her team that some of the sort of briefings that we have seen are completely unacceptable about parliamentary colleagues and they must stop.’ 

The cost-of-living crisis is the stark backdrop for a crisis at Westminster as Ms Truss desperately battles to cling on after being forced to sack ally Kwasi Kwarteng and ditch the disastrous mini-Budget that triggered havoc on markets – before any of last night’s chaos came into play.  

PMQs was only Ms Truss’s third since entering No10 and came just a week after she insisted there would ‘absolutely not’ be spending cuts. Mr Hunt – who has been branded the ‘de facto PM’ – now says cuts will be ‘eye-watering’. 

An honorable departure, an undignified sacking by her own party … or just limping on towards a general election hammering: The options facing Liz Truss as Tory calls for her to step down grow amid deepening chaos 

The chaos surrounding Liz Truss today has at its heart one seemingly straightforward question: what does the Conservative Party do with her?

The Tories have two equally basic answers to that question: they either find a way to get rid or her or step back and keep her in power, however unpalatable that seems.

But it is there than any sort of simplicity disappears. Ms Truss yesterday vowed that she is a ‘fighter, not a quitter’ and suggested she wants to fight on to the next election.

But with calls for her to quit as Tory leader mounting, this feels increasingly unlikely, if not totally impossible.

This means that she must either a) be convinced to change her mind and leave No10 in a dignified manner or b) have the decision of whether or not to go taken out of her hands and be humiliatingly booted out.

Tory MPs today emerged to plead with the PM to take the first course and spare herself and the party more damage, as they reel from truly appalling poll figures that show Labour on course for a landslide election win.

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Devon MP Gary Streeter said: ‘Sadly, it seems we must change leader BUT even if the (arch angel) Gabriel now takes over, the parliamentary party has to urgently rediscover discipline, mutual respect and teamwork if we are to (i) govern the UK well and (ii) avoid slaughter at the next election,’

And Hendon MP Matthew Offord said Liz Truss needed to agree on a ‘dignified exit’, telling the Evening Standard: ‘She does need to sit down and discuss it with her Cabinet and with others to manage some kind of dignified exit.’

Any resignation would be as leader of the Conservative Party. Ms Truss would remain PM until a successor – permanent or a caretaker – was appointed by the party. They would then take power in No10.

Here we look at the possible scenarios that could emerge in the next few hours, days or, improbably, weeks.

The chaos surrounding Liz Truss today has at its heart one seemingly straightforward question: what does the Conservative Party do with her?

The chaos surrounding Liz Truss today has at its heart one seemingly straightforward question: what does the Conservative Party do with her?

A DIGNIFIED RESIGNATION 

The calmest way for the current chaos to end would be with a dignified resignation by the Prime Minister. 

This could be done after a visit by the ‘men in grey suits’ – the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee. Led by chairman Sir Graham Brady.

They go to see the PM and tell her she no longer enjoys the confidence of her MPs, the parliamentary Tory Party.

The ’22 is currently in a bit of a bind. Any new leader is safe from a no confidence vote in their first 12 months in power under rules designed to provide some stability. 

But Sir Graham, if he feels that the level of opposition is so high that she would lose a hypothetical vote, could lead a delegation to inform her of this and make an appeal to her honour.

He could also make a veiled threat – given the level of opposition her only other option is to be embarrassingly removed by her own side.

It is possible that she listens and agrees to resign. But if not… 

The calmest way for the current chaos to end would be with a dignified resignation by the Prime Minister. This could be done after a visit by the 'men in grey suits' - the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee. Led by chairman Sir Graham Brady.

The calmest way for the current chaos to end would be with a dignified resignation by the Prime Minister. This could be done after a visit by the ‘men in grey suits’ – the executive of the backbench 1922 Committee. Led by chairman Sir Graham Brady.

THE RULES ARE CHANGED 

With the PM refusing to walk out in a dignified way, the 1922 Committee can vote to change its rules and allow a vote of no confidence in the PM before 12 months are up.

To trigger a vote, 15 per cent of Tory MPs have to submit letters of no confidence in her leadership of the party – which is currently 54 MPs.

Rumours have suggested that more than 100 MPs have already submitted letters, but the only person who actually knows the tally is Sir Graham, who does not reveal it. 

Ms Truss could still resign if a vote is triggered, without waiting to see if she is deposed.

But if she does lose the vote – which seems almost certain currently – she would effectively be sacked as Conservative leader, leaving MPs to decide on a replacement.

In the unlikely event that she wins the vote, she has a fresh mandate to govern, albeit a slim one, from her MPs. But it could harm the party even more in the polls, with the public so against her and her polities.

MINISTERIAL RESIGNATIONS

Another option open to the Tories is mass ministerial walkouts. 

This is how Boris Johnson was eventually forced from power, after he survived a vote of confidence. Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak resigned from the Cabinet, prompting more than 50 colleagues to follow suite.

While he was able to cobble together a replacement Government his authority was totally undermined and eventually it was the straw that broke the camel’s back and he agreed to resign a short time later.

Several ministers have already been linked with resignations, including Education Secretary Kit Malthouse and International Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch. Both deny any such plans.

But a walkout by a large chunk of ministers, especially if they come from both the moderate and right wings of the party, could prove terminal.

Another option open to the Tories is mass ministerial walkouts. This is how Boris Johnson was eventually forced from power, after he survived a vote of confidence. Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak resigned from the Cabinet, prompting more than 50 colleagues to follow suite.

Another option open to the Tories is mass ministerial walkouts. This is how Boris Johnson was eventually forced from power, after he survived a vote of confidence. Sajid Javid and Rishi Sunak resigned from the Cabinet, prompting more than 50 colleagues to follow suite.

TRUSS STAGGERS ON

Improbable as it seems it is still possible for the PM to remain in power. No 10 defiantly insisted she wants to fight the next election, due in 2024.

There is still no agreement on a successor who can unite the disparate factions in the party and this could a real problem.

MPs are keen to avoid a lengthy leadership election that leaves a power vacuum and exposes the party to another public show of infighting, after the bitter summer campaign between Ms Truss and Rishi Sunak.

Mr Sunak has been mooted as a replacement, but is disliked by the party right and the Boris Johnson faction.

Other names linked with a tilt include fellow summer candidate Penny Mordaunt, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and even Grant Shapps, who has been Home secretary since yesterday.

Other names linked with a tilt include fellow summer candidate Penny Mordaunt (top), Chancellor Jeremy Hunt (above), Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and even Grant Shapps, who has been Home secretary since yesterday.

Other names linked with a tilt include fellow summer candidate Penny Mordaunt (top), Chancellor Jeremy Hunt (above), Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and even Grant Shapps, who has been Home secretary since yesterday.

Conservative peer Lord Ed Vaizey said ‘the only way out of this mess’ is for Liz Truss to stand down and for somebody to be appointed as prime minister by Conservative MPs.

‘That is still fraught with problems,’ he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.’

He said it is clear from Suella Braverman’s resignation letter that she regards herself as a credible candidate to be prime minister.

‘And in terms of kind of shocking self-belief there will be at least five or six people out there who genuinely believe they could be the next prime minister.

‘So if the Tory Party cannot have a degree of self-knowledge and realise that the only way forward is to appoint someone they’re pretty much sunk,’ he said.

If the party cannot agree on a unity candidate they and the country could be left with a lame duck PM until they do.  

Downing Street has denied that there is any change to Liz Truss’s plan to stay in No 10 beyond the fiscal plan on October 31.

Asked the question, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: ‘No plans for any change. The Prime Minister will continue beyond the 31st’.

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