Liz Truss' Supporters Reportedly Fear Her Economic Policies Will Implode as She Leads in Tory Race

The foreign secretary is currently leading in the Tory leadership race against Rishi Sunak, but her backing comes from the rank-and-file conservatives rather than MPs. This has often been the winning formula in the recent past.

Liz Truss' supporters among Conservative Party MPs fear that the economic policies she proposes will not work, may leave her vulnerable to opposition and backbencher attacks, and could force her to backtrack, Bloomberg has reported citing sources within the party.

The key sources of concern are purportedly her plans to help Brits weather soaring prices, especially energy bills, which skyrocketed due to gas shortages prompted by western sanctions against Russia. Several lawmakers expressed concern that her support measures with energy bill subsidies and individual tax cuts won't go far enough, Bloomberg's sources said.

However, one source told the media outlet that Truss is actually planning to go against her self-declared pledge not to offer government handouts, and will cover energy bills for the poorest families to a greater extent than she currently claims. Even with that "radical" aid in mind, one anonymous MP who backs Truss fears that she will have to announce a second aid package because the first one won't be enough.

An anonymous government aide told Bloomberg that Truss' promises of energy bill subsidies, tax cuts and increases in defense spending to 3% of GDP simply don't add up. The aide also said that they were alarmed by her claims that the UK won't impose power rationing, noting that the government has internally mulled controlled blackouts for heavy industry in case of shortages.

Some of the foreign secretary's supporters also find her future cabinet choices troubling. With the exception of a few ministers, most members of Johnson's cabinet will be ousted and replaced by people holding more junior positions but ideologically supporting Truss.

One anonymous official told the news agency that the plans of Kwasi Kwarteng, a likely chancellor in Truss' cabinet, to sack old-timer Treasury Permanent Secretary Tom Scholar would be "suicidal". The official explained that Scholar is seen as one of few people capable of navigating the UK out of the current crisis. However, his economic views are ideologically opposed to Truss’.

This long list of concerns apparently left Truss without much support among Tory MPs, while party backbenchers are due to be boosted in the form of Johnson's soon-to-be-former ministers. The foreign secretary is still currently slated to win the race without the MP's backing, largely thanks to her policies striking a chord with rank-and-file conservatives. However, such a win might turn out to be a pyrrhic victory for Truss, Bloomberg pointed out, as she could face the letters of no-confidence that sank so many Tory prime ministers of late amid her failing policies.

Paradoxically, those MPs expressing concerns about her policies are still sticking to her side – even if they believe that her opponent, Rishi Sunak, has a more solid economic program, one of the Bloomberg's sources shared. Tory MPs concerns about Truss are apparently shared by Brits themselves, with only 12% expecting her to be a good prime minister according to a YouGov poll, as the party’s overall rating falls behind that of the Labour Party amid a series of scandals.