Liz Truss to face PMQs as she launches charm offensive to win back rebel MPs
by 0 
Liz Truss will face her second Prime Minister’s Questions later before going on a charm offensive to get her own MPs back on side.
After facing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at the despatch box at 12pm, the PM is expected to hold lunches with backbenchers and tour the tea rooms in parliament, before appearing in front of the Conservative 1922 Committee on Wednesday evening.
The government will also introduce its Energy Prices Bill to put into law its plan to help households and businesses with soaring energy costs over the winter and beyond.
It comes after a chaotic start to Ms Truss’s premiership following the death of the Queen and a mini-budget that divided Tories, as well as sending the markets into turmoil.
Politics latest: ‘Ominous warning’ for Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng as he faces MPs
The PM and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng have already been forced into a U-turn on one of the many tax cutting policies within their plan – namely scrapping the 45p tax rate for the highest earners.
And they have also been pressured into bringing forward Mr Kwarteng’s medium-term economic announcement to Halloween after complaints the original 23 November date was too far away.
But with warnings from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) that the chancellor would have to cut spending or raise taxes by £62bn if he was to stabilise or reduce the national debt as promised, the rows in the party are far from over.
Many MPs, including some cabinet ministers, are publicly calling for the PM to commit to raising benefits in line with inflation to help the poorest during the cost of living crisis – though Number 10 says she has yet to make a decision.
And one Tory former minister, Stephen Hammond, said she should delay the planned cut to corporation tax to ensure there aren’t savage slashes to public services, like the NHS and education.
But Health Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Therese Coffey tried to calm fears, saying she was “confident” of “increasing investment in public sector services – but making sure that we do that carefully with taxpayers money whilst we also stimulate the economy to grow”.
There is also upset from some MPs in rural areas over Ms Truss’ plan to ban solar projects from farms, with the Conservative Environment Network saying it is “disproportionate” and risks being “damaging to investor confidence in an energy crisis”.
Scrapping EU laws protecting the environment, creating the government’s proposed investment zones in national parks and lifting the ban on fracking are also bitterly opposed by the green lobby.
A government spokesperson insisted to Sky News that they were “empowering local places to deliver plans that are right for their area”.
Read more: PM’s massive U-turn was designed to build bridges – but is there a way back?
Labour is also attacking the government over reports it could scrap its plan to end no-fault evictions – a pledge made in the 2019 Conservative manifesto to stop landlords kicking tenants out without giving a reason.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said “no decisions have been taken on any further policies” but the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities was looking at the issue.
He added: “Clearly, ensuring a fair deal for renters will always remain a priority for this government.”
But shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy said: “Millions of people are only a few weeks from losing their home through no fault of their own.
“The Tories promised to stop this in their election manifesto and the Queen’s Speech. It would be shameful to break this promise.”
