The Guardian view on Truss, Kwarteng and inequality: out of touch, out of time
Liz Truss’s attempt to reset the Conservative party by jettisoning the agenda of the previous regime is failing because of her political incompetence and the absence of a popular mandate. The latter has been skilfully exploited by the former Tory cabinet minister Michael Gove to try to salvage some of the 2019 manifesto, which aspired to level up poorer areas. Mr Gove will wear a feather in his cap after Suella Braverman, the home secretary, singled him out in as a ringleader of a “coup” that forced Ms Truss to drop plans to cut the 45% tax rate for the rich.
No prime minister has the privilege to say what a general election meant if they have not won one. The Tories achieved their majority with promises of getting Brexit done, rebuilding the NHS and tackling regional inequality. Those promises succeeded in creating a new coalition of traditional Conservative supporters and former Labour voters. However, the mess over the Northern Ireland protocol is evidence that Brexit is far from over; the NHS is in crisis; and the obituaries are being prepared for the levelling up agenda. These failures were framed by Ms Truss to suggest that a clean break was needed. Mr Gove has reanimated opposition to this project by calling for “additional resources” to level up the country, despite the government’s budgetary squeeze.
The trouble for the leadership is that where Mr Gove has led, others are following for fear of being left behind by public opinion. On Tuesday, Ms Truss refused to commit to a pledge made by her predecessor, Boris Johnson, that benefits would rise in line with inflation rather than earnings. Mr Gove is right to say that the promise should be kept. Ms Truss’s tin-eared argument is that, in a cost of living crisis,
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