'Fighter' Truss again seeks to reassert authority as UK lawmakers jeer

Britain's Liz Truss said on Wednesday she was a "fighter not a quitter" in a new attempt by the prime minister to reassert her authority over a restive party in which calls are growing for her to quit.

Just days after her newly installed finance minister, Jeremy Hunt, ripped apart her economic programme that had sent shockwaves through markets, Truss was keen to show she was in charge, announcing a renewed commitment to raising pensions in line with inflation.

But facing questions in parliament for the first time since Hunt scrapped most of her tax-cutting plan, Truss's words were met with laughter, boos and jeers, especially when she told the opposition Labour Party it needed to grasp economic reality.

Conservative lawmaker William Wragg said he had submitted a letter of no confidence in the prime minister, joining a handful of others who have called for her to go. Wragg said he was "ashamed" of facing voters after the so-called mini-budget.

Truss also faces a potential challenge later on Wednesday, when lawmakers vote on a motion brought by the main opposition to overturn her pledge to reintroduce fracking - a vote being treated as test of confidence in the government.

"I have been very clear that I am sorry, and I have made mistakes," Truss told jeering opposition lawmakers in parliament. "I am somebody who's prepared to front up. I'm prepared to take the tough decisions."

Responding to a question from Labour Party leader Keir Starmer on why she should remain in power, Truss said: "I am a fighter and not a quitter."

After days of uncertainty, she said she was committed to increasing state pension payments in line with the level of inflation - her first statement on fiscal matters after commentators said Hunt had all but taken charge of government.

Asked whether it was Truss's decision on pensions, her spokesperson said the prime minister and finance minister were in agreement but that "she wanted to provide that reassurance".

But just minutes after being told the prime minister would visit a business outside London, a source in her Downing Street office said she had pulled out because of "government business".

Her office gave no further explanation.

TOO FAR, TOO FAST

Truss, who was elected on Sept. 6 by Conservative members on a promise of tax cuts and maintaining public spending, is under pressure despite apologising for going "too far and too fast" with an economic programme that prompted investors to dump the pound and government bonds.

Markets have somewhat stabilised since, but with mortgage rates increasing and official figures showing inflation back to a 40-year high, Truss faces a struggle to convince the public and her party she could address the cost-of-living crisis.

Her Conservative Party is some 30 points behind the main opposition Labour Party, according to opinion polls, and YouGov ranks her as the most unpopular leader the pollster has ever tracked.

Wragg, chair of a parliamentary committee, told parliament he had submitted a letter calling for Truss to resign

"The lack of foresight by senior members of the government I cannot easily forgive," he said. "What occurred with that financial statement, I am personally ashamed because I cannot go face my constituents, look them in the eye and say that they should support our great party."

Truss also faced ridicule from Labour leader Keir Starmer, who commented a new book was being written about her time in office which was due to be out by Christmas.

"Is that the release date or the title?" he asked. He later said she was asking him questions about Labour policy because "we're a government in waiting".

Truss and Hunt are desperately trying to balance the books after investor confidence was shattered, as well as to avoid alienating Conservative lawmakers or lose further public support.

She declined to give inflation-matching assurances for welfare payments and foreign aid, and sought to avert any Conservative opposition to fracking by promising details later on Wednesday of how local communities would be able to give their consent to any future projects.

That announcement would coincide with a Labour vote on whether there should an outright fracking ban, after the government last month lifted a moratorium in place in England since 2019.

Conservative 'whips', responsible for enforcing discipline among their lawmakers, have sent a message saying the vote would be treated as a "confidence motion in the government".