<\/p>\n
By Joe Jackson<\/p>\n
London, United Kingdom \u2013 British Prime Minister Liz Truss is set to address lawmakers in parliament on Wednesday for the first time since abandoning her tax-slashing economic agenda, as she seeks to reassert her waning political authority.<\/p>\n
Truss is set to face hostile questions from Tory as well as opposition MPs in a likely febrile House of Commons, less than 48 hours after new finance minister Jeremy Hunt dismembered her flagship tax plans.<\/p>\n
The beleaguered leader has already seen at least five Conservative colleagues call for her to be replaced, as she fights for political survival.<\/p>\n
Polls show her personal and party ratings have cratered dramatically, with YouGov saying Tuesday that \u2013 within six weeks of taking power \u2013 she had become the most unpopular leader it has ever tracked.<\/p>\n
A separate survey of party members found less than two months after electing her Tory leader and prime minister, a majority now think she should go.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the main Labour opposition has opened up huge poll leads over the ruling Conservatives, amid the recent fallout as well as the worsening cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n
More than three-quarters of people disapprove of the government \u2013 the highest in 11 years, YouGov said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Risk\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n The government\u2019s September 23 mini-budget \u2013 which slashed a host of taxes without curbing spending \u2013 sent bond yields spiking and the pound collapsing to a record dollar-low on fears of rocketing UK debt.<\/p>\n Truss last week staged two humiliating U-turns, scrapping planned tax cuts for the richest earners and on company profits, and fired her close ally Kwasi Kwarteng as finance minister.<\/p>\n After appointing Hunt as his successor, she agreed to further reverse course, axing almost all the other cuts and rowing back on an energy price cap for consumers.<\/p>\n It was set to last two years, but will now end for many next April.<\/p>\n During the summer leadership campaign which saw Truss beat former chancellor of the exchequer Rishi Sunak to succeed ex-premier Boris Johnson, she vowed not to reduce public spending.<\/p>\n But after the economic tumult of recent weeks saw government borrowing rates spiral, Truss and Hunt have warned of \u201cdifficult decisions\u201d and urged government departments to find savings.<\/p>\n Opposition parties are demanding she stand down and a general election \u2014 not due for two years \u2014 is held.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can\u2019t go on like this, shutting the public out,\u201d Labour leader Keir Starmer told BBC radio.<\/p>\n \u201cMany people now feel that the real risk now is carrying on with this lot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Sharks\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Under current party rules Truss cannot be challenged by a no-confidence vote in her first year, but speculation is rife the rules could be changed to allow for a ballot.<\/p>\n Conservative lawmakers so far have failed to coalesce around a contender to replace her, with Johnson and Sunak both touted but each likely to draw significant opposition from factions within the party.<\/p>\n More than half polled by YouGov had an unfavourable opinion of Sunak, rising to nearly two-thirds for Johnson.<\/p>\n Truss apologised for going \u201ctoo far and too fast\u201d in her government\u2019s mini-budget in a BBC interview Monday \u2013 \u00a0as well as insisting she was going nowhere.<\/p>\n But there are daily reports of plots by her own MPs to oust her, as even right-wing newspapers ditch their support.<\/p>\n \u201cShe holds the seal of prime ministerial office \u2014 but only by her fingertips,\u201d the Daily Mail\u2019s editorial said Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cHer authority and credibility are as good as shot. The sharks in her party have smelled blood \u2013 and circle menacingly.\u201d<\/p>\n