The PM Seems To Have Learnt Nothing From Her Humiliation

The hung parliament analogy is essential to understanding what will happen next. Liz Truss is in effect leading a minority government, in a House of Commons in which the Rishi Sunak Party holds the balance of power.

- John Rentoul

She had to abandon the cut in the top tax rate because she didn’t have the votes in parliament to legislate for it. She is hoping to press ahead with a cut in the real value of some benefits because that is a decision the government can make without risking defeat in a vote of MPs.

Some disability benefits are required by law to go up in line with inflation, so those increases will go ahead because the government would have to change the law to reduce them. She would not be able to do that.

We will find out on 19 October what the inflation rate was in September, which will decide how much these benefits will rise by in April. The increase will be about 10 per cent, so it will make a big difference. All the more so because the last increase, in April this year, was much lower than the rate of inflation by then.