With great fanfare, the mini-budget was announced. It included, among other things, the controversial scrapping of the top rate of tax. This was hailed by some as a triumph of the ideological approach that propelled Liz Truss into power.
However, it was greeted less triumphantly by the markets, so
the top rate of tax was unscrapped.
The Prime Minister then decided that was chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng scrapped instead, so he got his jotters.
His replacement was Jeremy Hunt, who decided that almost all of the other policies in the triumphant mini-budget would be scrapped as well, and signalled significant cuts to public services instead.
To underline her authority, the Prime Minister sent her leadership rival Penny Mourdant out to face the House of Commons, and she confidently stated Truss was "not under a desk".
Then the home secretary resigned after just 43 days, leaving with a stinging rebuke to Truss' leadership.
Hours later, a Commons vote on fracking was turned into a de-facto confidence vote in the government where it was alleged that Tory MPs were being 'manhandled' into the voting lobby.
At least 70 per
cent of this happened since the last time we emailed.
This week's Ferret Underground newsletter has zero stories about the Prime Minister, but lots of exclusives on the environment, social justice and climate change. Please enjoy it as something of a palate cleanser.
Yours, Ali from The Ferret
Story of the week
An in-depth look at a Ferret investigation
Trauma aware lawyers and campaigners are driving changes to the way courts deal with offending in Scotland, which they argue will make society safer for everyone. The Ferret spent a day in court to see how this could look in practice.
A round up of our investigations in the last seven days
Antarctic krill fishing boosted by fish farming Fishing companies are hoping to “double” their catches of krill — tiny animals that sustain the Antarctic Ocean — to feed the fish farming industry.
Concerns over climate plan as more money spent on new road Concerns have been raised about how Perth and Kinross council will pay for its climate change plan after it used half of its available funds on a new road.
Salmon firms accused of hiding lice levels Salmon farming companies in Scotland have been accused of exploiting “loopholes” to hide infestations of lice that cause suffering and harm wild fish.
Question of the Week
Are local authorities doing enough to tackle the climate crisis?
Investigations we've enjoyed from around the world
A US farmer was accused of abusing his workers. Then Big Tobacco backed his election When tobacco giant Reynolds American backed Brent Jackson’s political campaign in November 2019, it was well aware of the accusations against him (The Bureau)
Untold: Inside the Shein machine Chinese fashion giant Shein's success story is unrivalled, but at what cost? In this documentary, hidden cameras go inside factories for the first time. (Channel 4)
Liz Truss aides ‘pretended her relatives had died’ to get her out of
going on TV Aides would concoct stories about family members dying in order to get Truss out of television appearances, it has been claimed. (Whitehall Sources)
