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UK govt. meltdown as calls for PM resignation grow

Monday, 17 October 2022 7:12 PM [ Last Update: Monday, 17 October 2022 7:12 PM ]

Saeed Pourreza
Press TV, London

After three weeks of economic and political turmoil, an early announcement by the UK's new finance minister aimed at calming the nerves at home and abroad.

And with that Jeremy Hunt reversed most of an economic package announced by his predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, just weeks ago, including a planned cut to income tax.

It made no sense economically, it made no sense politically, simple as that.

But not everything is being reversed. The government is still going to end the cap on bankers' bonuses, meaning bankers will be able to take home more than double their fixed salary when the change is made.

And then there's the cap on household energy bills; Liz Truss' most popular policy that was supposed to be in place for two years. It'll now be reviewed in April next year.

Much of the economic and political turbulence in the UK is being blamed on the war in Ukraine and global market forces. Many experts say there's another important culprit.

Liz Truss's premiership has been nothing less than a roller coaster. Less than two months in the job, she has already fired her finance minister and backtracked on her economic plan that sent markets into a tailspin. That has meant a comfortable lead in the polls for the opposition and loss of credibility with her own party.

With the new Chancellor ripping up her economic plan, Liz Truss will now have to regain the support of her parliamentary party. But with the amount of plotting that's going on in the building behind me at the moment, whether or not she can do that, is anyone's guess.

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