We must stay the course, Truss tells Tory conference

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It's hardly been a straightforward start to the job as PM for Liz Truss.

There was the death of the Queen a few days into her premiership, turmoil over her mini-budget, and then she was off to Tory conference where she faced party infighting over her policies.

So what's next?

• 6 October - Truss will travel to Prague for a meeting of the European Political Community - a summit organised by French President Emmanuel Macron to bring together a wider collection of European states
• 11 October - MPs will return to Westminster, and Truss will be under pressure to deliver on some of her campaign promises
• 19 October - The latest consumer price inflation data by the Office for National Statistics will be published, setting out where inflation stood in September.
• 28 October - The government will "push the button" to call a fresh Stormont election in Northern Ireland if power-sharing is not restored by this date
• 23 November - Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng suggested he would publish his fiscal plan and Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts on this date - although we understand it will come before then.

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There was the content of today's speech. And then the context of its delivery.

And context is everything: this is a party that's been close to ripping itself to shreds in the last few days.

A conference that was a showcase of dysfunction and division, from the cabinet down.

Indiscipline within government, mutiny beyond it. Fears of this government's collapse run to its highest levels.

The only crutch that gives these senior figures reprieve from their gloom is a view that another leadership race would be ridiculous and, for a party languishing so far behind in the opinion polls, an imminent election would amount to a death wish.

Those around the prime minister are shaken by the turbulence of the last few days and glad this conference is over.

The problems the government confronts are colossal: gripping them would stretch a united outfit, the Conservatives are a long way from that right now.

It has been a fairly chaotic few days in Birmingham for the Conservatives and new leader Liz Truss at the party conference.

Here's a quick recap of the key moments since the weekend.

On Sunday Liz Truss admitted to Laura Kuenssberg that she should have "laid the ground better" for her mini-budget but defiantly said that she would not budge on a decision to cut the 45p top rate of tax.

This was a decision which was criticised by Tory heavyweight Michael Gove who said it displayed the "wrong values". Hours later former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps added his name to the backlash saying the policy would not get through the House of Commons.

By Monday the policy was axed as Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng told BBC Breakfast that he "had listened" and confirmed the U-turn much to the delight of Tory backbenchers.

Kwarteng told the Birmingham conference that he wanted to "focus on the task in hand". But more confusion surrounded whether or not the chancellor would bring forward the date - initially 23 November - to publish his plans to pay for tax cuts and bring down the national debt.

On Tuesday a row emerged over whether benefits should rise with inflation or in line with earnings. We also had some bitter Tory infighting with the Home Secretary Suella Braverman openly criticising her own party members for "staging a coup" which forced the 45p tax U-turn.

All eyes on Wednesday shifted to Liz Truss and her first speech as prime minister and Tory leader. She vowed to get the UK through "stormy days" ahead.

But, her speech was briefly disrupted by Greenpeace protestors who were escorted out of the hall.

The BBC's chief political correspondent Nick Eardley reflects on the prime minister's speech, on the fourth and final day of the Tory party conference in Birmingham.

If you're catching up, Liz Truss vowed to focus on "growth, growth and growth" as she closed the Tory party conference.

You can get a flavour of her speech below.

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Several businesses have told the BBC they were left disappointed by a Tory conference dinner, amid claims some ministers were late or did not show up.

One company attending said some firms were "dismayed" after paying thousands to secure their place at the event on Monday.

Labour has written to those who attended, offering them places at its equivalent event.

The Conservative Party said that the event ran to its scheduled time.

The spokesperson said it was "as always well attended", adding: "This conference saw a record number of business attendees."

When asked if the dinner had been a success, a No 10 spokesperson said they couldn't comment on a "specific dinner" - but added: "What we've heard from businesses has been very positive."

Tickets for the conference Business Day cost £2,990, plus an extra £400 per head for the ticketed dinner in the evening.

Read more here.

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No wonder people who are concerned about nature are worried. There was only one mention of climate change in Liz Truss’ speech.

Yes, she said she would deliver the government’s 2050 net zero target, but the prime minister also restated her determination to issue more oil and gas licences in the North Sea.

She seemed delighted when the speech was interrupted by Greenpeace, which she framed as the embodiment of her “anti-growth coalition”.

But it isn’t just banner-waving activists that are anxious about the impact of her “growth, growth, growth” agenda on the environment.

“Make no mistake, we are angry”, tweeted the RSPB last week in response to her government’s plans to review environmental regulations.

The Wildlife Trusts have warned of an “unprecedented attack on nature” while the National Trust fears a “free-for-all for nature and heritage”.

These organisations’ members aren’t wild-eyed greens, many of them will be card carrying Conservative Party members, which means there were probably quite a few members of the “anti-growth coalition” in Liz Truss’ audience in Birmingham today.

As you''ll have no doubt read by now, Liz Truss's speech was interrupted for several minutes by protesters.

The two women, who were removed from the venue after holding up a sign saying "who voted for this?", work for the environmental group Greenpeace.

After the disruption, Greenpeace UK put out a press release saying its head of public affairs Rebecca Newsom and policy officer Ami McCarthy were there to object to Liz Truss "shredding" her party’s previous environmental commitments.

Among the concerns they list are the lifting of the ban on fracking, the potential abolition of EU laws regulating things like water quality and pollution, and concerns that the government may roll back its scheme for subsidies for environmental work by farmers and other landowners.

The pair have also now written a piece in The Guardian, setting out their views.

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More from Labour now, who have accused the prime minister of being at the heart of an economy of flat wages and low growth.

Responding to Liz Truss's speech, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says the "Tory economic crisis" the UK is experiencing was made in Downing Street.

Quote Message: Liz Truss has been a government minister for the last 10 years. She has been at the heart of building a Conservative economy that has led to the flat wages and low growth she highlighted today." from Rachel Reeves

Liz Truss has been a government minister for the last 10 years. She has been at the heart of building a Conservative economy that has led to the flat wages and low growth she highlighted today."

Meanwhile, the party's deputy leader Angela Rayner has also weighed in on what she calls "years of Tory chaos".

Writing on Twitter, Rayner says the PM will bring turbulence and danger rather than stability and security.

Quote Message: When our country needs a plan, all she offers is incompetence. But where there’s a cost, she’ll make sure you pay it." from Angela Rayner

When our country needs a plan, all she offers is incompetence. But where there’s a cost, she’ll make sure you pay it."

It's been a bumpy few days in Birmingham for the Conservatives with plenty of open disagreement within the Tory party.

In her speech, Truss left out a major issue that caused tensions yesterday: benefits.

Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt said she wanted to see benefits rising in line with inflation, as former PM Boris Johnson pledged, but Truss has refused to say whether she will stick to the commitment.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the UK still had a "Benefits Street kind of culture".

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's World at One programme, Jacob Rees-Mogg was asked what his message was to his cabinet colleagues who appeared to be infighting.

He replied: "No they're not. It's all hugely overblown.

"You've got to discuss ideas at a party conference, otherwise what on earth is the point?"

We've been hearing reaction from the BBC's political correspondents - but what do other lobby journalists think of Liz Truss's keynote address?

The Sun's political editor Harry Cole says it was "easily" Truss' best performance since her surprising turn at the hustings in Leeds, adding that the interruption by Greenpeace protesters "ended up a gift".

Sky News's political editor Beth Rigby said the PM's "withering" attacks on her political opponents went down well, although Truss may continue to face opposition from "the enemy within": Tory rebels.

Meanwhile, Robert Shrimsley from the Financial Times said the PM gave a "confident performance" after a torrid week "which may put some heart into her allies, but it changes nothing".

The Guardian's Pippa Crerar tweeted that Liz Truss said she was working flat out to ensure people get through the economic crisis, but made "no mention of fact her government's mini-budget made things worse".

Paul Waugh from the i said Truss was "channelling as many varieties of Margaret Thatcher as possible".

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There was a muted reaction from financial markets to Liz Truss's first speech as leader at the Conservative Party Conference.

At 11am when she was due to start speaking, the pound was worth $1.1386.

Shortly after she delivered the final line it stood at 1.1366p, a fall of 0.2 cents or 0.017%.

The pound was trading at $1.1477 at the start of the day - making for a fall of around 1% since midnight.

There was a small improvement in government borrowing costs, but they were still below the peaks seen in the days following the mini budget.

(You can see track the pound's performance against the dollar here.)

The PM says her priority is "growth, growth and growth".

She didn’t mention the target of 2.5% that most forecasters suggest will be a challenge, for example, for next year. Downing Street says in fact that this is a medium to long term target.

She says she will challenge those who try to "stop growth".

More widely there is considerable debate about what and why the shortfall in UK growth has occurred, and did not occur elsewhere - such as the US or Germany.

The PM has focussed on a 70-year high for levels of tax (as a proportion of GDP) but that would not explain what has happened over the past 20 years.

When the Office for Budget Responsibility produces its forecast in the coming weeks, it is also entirely plausible that the impact of the past fortnight of chaos, and uncertainty about macroeconomic stability, will have resulted in some slower growth.

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In the last few moments Prime Minister Liz Truss has arrived back in Downing Street fresh from delivering her keynote speech at the Tory Party conference in Birmingham.

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Maxwell, a member from Kensington in London, says he was “pretty happy" with the speech overall, describing it as “very buoyant”.

“She’s not the greatest public speaker, but she’s got better, she’s improved," he says.

The protest “ended up working in her favour,” he says, as it drew attention to the points she was trying to make in the speech.

He says he was in the audience in 2017 when Theresa May was handed a fake P45 by a protestor, and today's incident was "nowhere near as bad".

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One of the prime minister's primary attack lines to Tory conference this morning was to claim a wide-range of her political opponents were part of a so-called "anti-growth coalition".

But who did Liz Truss mean by that?

Well, in the speech itself she said it consisted of:

• opposition parties, including Labour, the Lib Dems and the Scottish National Party
• "militant" unions, "vested interested dressed up as think talks" and "talking heads"
• "Brexit deniers" (what exactly she meant by this isn't clear)
• Extinction Rebellion and other climate change protesters (which she characterised as "some of the people we had in the hall earlier", following a noisy interruption from Greenpeace activists)

Since the speech, Downing Street has been asked for more detail who might be included in this coalition, as well as which think tanks have Truss's approval.

In response, her press secretary said the PM "obviously likes [think tanks] which are more on the centre-right of things".

Asked whether the coalition included celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who opposes suggestions the government will scrap plans to ban two-for-one deals on junk food, Truss's press secretary said he was "not going to name individuals".

"Obviously people are free to voice their opinion, but the economy has not been growing as it should be for a very long time.

"Why is that? There are obviously some people who influence certain policy decisions which isn't conducive to growth," the spokesman added.

The prime minister gave a brief mention to the plight of borrowers in her speech - saying the government will do what it can but interest rates are set independently by the Bank of England.

The backdrop is that, today, an average two-year fixed mortgage rate breached 6% for the first time in 14 years.

That typical rate is at 6.07%, according to the financial information service Moneyfacts, which is the highest since November 2008.

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We're hearing Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is to meet with high street bank executives tomorrow to discuss the impact recent volatility in the financial markets is having on mortgage lending.

The Treasury insists it hasn't been specially arranged, saying it's a regular meeting that the chancellor holds with retail bank bosses.

Representatives from Barclays, Natwest and Lloyds Banking Group are expected to be there.

Mortgage rates have been going up for months, but recorded a sharp increase in the fall-out from the mini-budget nearly two weeks ago, leading to hundreds of deals being pulled from the market.