UK: Home Secretary, Chief Whip Resign
Facts
- The UK government was plunged into further chaos on Wednesday as the home secretary and chief whip resigned. This follows the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor last Friday.
- Home secretary Suella Braverman was forced to quit after she violated ministerial rules by sending an official document from her personal email. Her resignation letter contained a withering commentary on the PM's premiership, saying "Pretending we haven't made any mistakes...is not serious politics."
- Braverman's security breach was a dangerous infringement on "cabinet confidentiality," argued Truss's allies, because it pertained to plans to increase levels of high-skilled immigration to Britain. Truss's cabinet reportedly intends to subject the policy to the Office for Budget Responsibility to improve the UK's economic growth forecast.
- Just hours after Braverman's resignation was announced, a vote on fracking in the Commons was overshadowed by news that the Conservative chief whip, Wendy Morton, had resigned. Allegations quickly followed that some Tories had been "bullied" into opposing Labour's proposals to ban fracking in the "no" voting lobby.
- According to opposition MP Chris Bryant, Tory MPs were "physically manhandled" during the vote which saw the government win by 326 to 230. There are also reports that deputy chief whip Craig Whittaker, as well as Morton, resigned on Wednesday over the allegedly chaotic show in parliament.
- There were also several notable absences from the vote, which attracted controversy over whether or not it was a ballot on the House's confidence in the PM. Overall, 40 Conservative MPs—including former PM Boris Johnson, current cabinet ministers Priti Patel and Ben Wallace, and even the PM herself—didn't vote. It isn't yet clear who will replace Morton or Whittaker, but it has been confirmed that the politically moderate former transport secretary Grant Shapps will take over Braverman's role.
Sources: BBC News, Telegraph, FT, Spectator (UK), Independent, and Sky News.
Narratives
- Left narrative, as provided by The Guardian. This is a government in chaos. After a series of humiliating U-turns on economic policy, Truss is desperately trying to appeal to a broader section of the Conservative party. The PM has been forced to abandon ideological commitments to austerity and shrinking the administrative state, and instead embraced the more moderate party factions that want her out of government. The Tories can't even manage the basics of governance — they should make way for a Labour administration that can.
- Right narrative, as provided by The Telegraph. This isn't an invigoration of the left of the Conservative party, it's the death of the party itself. Truss has surrounded herself with "One Nationers" whose records contradict her ideological rhetoric. Not only does this make the government appear weak and contrarian in the eyes of the electorate, but it undermines the fundamental party principles. The PM should have stood stalwart and unified right-wing Conservatives around her agenda.