Tory Disquiet Grows As Ex-Minister Appears To Sub-Tweet Liz Truss

A former cabinet minister has taken an unusual approach to making clear his unease with Liz Truss – by apparently sub-tweeting her.

In a further sign of open Tory revolt against her government’s handling of the economy, Julian Smith took a backhanded swipe at the prime minister by tweeting the definition of “confidence”.

The ex-Northern Ireland secretary wrote that the definition is “the feeling or belief that one can have faith in or rely on someone or something”.

No context was provided.

The cryptic tweet could be a reference to the confidence vote a Tory leader would face if they have lost the faith of enough MPs.

Boris Johnson and Theresa May both survived votes but were eventually brought down.

Smith was May’s chief whip – or enforcer – so is familiar with the niceties of party discipline.  

It followed a stormy meeting of the Tory backbench 1922 Committee on Wednesday evening, where Truss was savaged by Tory MPs.

One MP described her performance as “crap” while another told HuffPost UK she was “wooden”.

The scale of the backlash to the mini-budget has led to speculation that the prime minister’s own position could be in jeopardy.

The editor of the influential ConservativeHome website, Paul Goodman, suggested there has been rumours about replacing Truss with a joint ticket involving her former leadership rivals Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt.

The unease comes on another tumultuous day in Westminster as the government faced pressure to abandon more elements of the mini-budget which has caused market turmoil.

Kwasi Kwarteng insisted “our position has not changed” amid reports that talks are under way between No 10 and the Treasury on abandoning other elements of the £43 billion tax-cutting plan, including the commitment to axe a planned increase in corporation tax.

Asked if both he and Truss would still be in office in a month, Kwarteng said: “Absolutely 100%. I am not going anywhere.”