LONDON (AP) 鈥� described herself as 鈥渁 fighter and not a quitter鈥� Wednesday as she faced down a hostile opposition and fury from her own Conservative Party over her botched economic plan.
Yet the grim faces of Conservative lawmakers behind her in the House of Commons suggested that Truss faces an uphill struggle to save her job. Within hours of Truss' appearance in Parliament for a regular session titled Prime Minister鈥檚 Questions, a senior member of her government left her post with a fusillade of criticism.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said she resigned after breaching rules by sending an official document from her personal email account. In her resignation letter, Braverman said she had 鈥渃oncerns about the direction of this government鈥� and 鈥� in a thinly veiled attack on Truss 鈥� said 鈥渢he business of government relies upon people accepting responsibility for their mistakes.鈥�
"Pretending we haven't made mistakes, carrying on as if everyone can't see that we have made them and hoping that things will magically come right is not serious politics,鈥� she said.
Braverman is a popular figure on the Conservative Party鈥檚 right wing and a champion of more restrictive immigration policies.
Her departure comes days after Truss fired her Treasury chief, Kwasi Kwarteng, on Friday after the economic package the pair drew up spooked financial markets when it was announced on Sept. 23.
The plan's 45 billion pounds ($50 billion) in unfunded tax cuts sparked turmoil on financial markets, hammering the value of the pound and increasing the cost of U.K. government borrowing. The Bank of England was forced to intervene to prevent the crisis from spreading to the wider economy and putting pension funds at risk.
Truss attended her first session of Prime Minister's Questions since Kwarteng's replacement, ripped up the tax-cutting package unveiled by her new government less than a month ago.
She apologized to Parliament and admitted she had made mistakes during her short tenure as the U.K.'s head of government, but insisted that by changing course she had 鈥渢aken responsibility and made the right decisions in the interest of the country鈥檚 economic stability.鈥�
Opposition lawmakers shouted 鈥淩esign!鈥� as she spoke.
Asked by opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, 鈥淲hy is she still here?鈥� Truss retorted: 鈥淚 am a fighter and not a quitter. I have acted in the national interest to make sure that we have economic stability.鈥�
On Monday Hunt scrapped almost all of Truss鈥� tax cuts, along with her flagship energy policy and her promise of no public spending cuts. He said the government will need to save billions of pounds and there are 鈥渕any difficult decisions鈥� to be made before he sets out a medium-term fiscal plan on Oct. 31.
Official figures released Wednesday showed in September, returning to a 40-year high first hit in July, as the soaring cost of food squeezed household budgets. While inflation is high around the world 鈥� driven up by Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine and its effect on energy supplies 鈥� polls show most Britons blame the government for the country鈥檚 economic pain.
Opponents also accuse the Conservative government of sowing chaos by flip-flopping on policy. On Wednesday, Truss reassured retirees that pensions would continue to rise in line with inflation 鈥� less than 24 hours after her spokesman said the government was considering removing the expensive pledge as it seeks to cut public spending.
With opinion polls giving the Labour Party a large and growing lead, many Conservatives now believe their only hope of avoiding electoral oblivion is to replace Truss. But and legislators are divided about how to get rid of her.
New Foreign Secretary James Cleverly urged Conservatives to give Truss another chance, saying 鈥渕istakes happen.鈥�
鈥淲hat you鈥檝e got to do is recognize when they鈥檝e happened and have humility to make changes when you see things didn鈥檛 go right,鈥� he said.
Truss faces another test in Parliament later Wednesday when lawmakers vote on a Labour Party motion seeking to ban fracking for shale gas 鈥� a policy that Truss recently approved.
Conservative Party whips said the vote would be treated as 鈥渁 confidence motion in the government,鈥� meaning the government would fall if the motion passed, triggering an election. The Conservatives' 70-plus majority makes that unlikely, but the vote will be closely watched for signs of dissent about Truss' leadership.
Truss' press secretary said the prime minister was 鈥渘ot resigning鈥� and was in a 鈥渄etermined鈥� mood.
A national election does not have to be held until 2024. Truss on Wednesday appeared to rule out calling an early election, saying 鈥渨hat is important is we work together ... to get through this winter and protect the economy.鈥�
Under Conservative Party rules, Truss is safe from a leadership challenge for a year, but the rules can be changed if enough lawmakers want it. There is fevered speculation about how many lawmakers have already submitted letters calling for a no-confidence vote.
Some Conservative legislators believe Truss could be forced to resign if the party agrees on a successor.
As yet, there is no front-runner. Truss鈥� defeated Conservative leadership rival Rishi Sunak, House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt and popular Defense Secretary Ben Wallace all have supporters, as does Hunt, who many see as the de facto prime minister already.
Some even favor the return of Boris Johnson, who was ousted in the summer after becoming enmeshed in ethics scandals.
Cleverly said he understood why colleagues were angry, but said 鈥渄efenestrating another prime minister鈥� was the wrong thing to do.
___
Follow AP鈥檚 coverage of British politics at
Jill Lawless, The Associated Press
