Liz Truss: Don't throw PM to wolves, Welsh secretary says

Welsh Secretary Sir Robert Buckland has warned Conservatives against "throwing another prime minister to the wolves" as pressure mounts on Liz Truss.

The cabinet minister, speaking after she sacked her Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, said he would not deny it was a "difficult situation".

However, he told BBC Radio 4's Any Questions getting rid of another prime minister would mean "more instability".

But another senior Welsh Tory said she did not have a "shred of credibility".

Ms Truss has insisted she will stay on as the prime minister.

She has been in office for 40 days since her predecessor Boris Johnson was removed after a revolt by Tory MPs.

Former Welsh Conservative leader Lord Nick Bourne said he did not see how she could survive, but Welsh Tory chairman Glyn Davies has backed her.

Lord Bourne and Sir Robert were speaking after a day of turmoil in which Mr Kwarteng was called back from America to be dismissed, and former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was appointed his successor in an attempt by Ms Truss to end turmoil on the financial markets.

She then reversed a key policy to scrap a planned rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25%.

It is the second major U-turn on September's mini-budget after Ms Truss cancelled her plan to scrap the top rate of income tax earlier this month.

On Saturday, Mr Hunt said difficult decisions would be needed "across the board" on tax and spending.

Sir Robert, appearing on Any Questions on Friday night, denied that Ms Truss's position was "untenable".

"This has been a very difficult political week, I'm not going to shy away from that, but do I think that means her position is untenable? No, I do not," he said.

The audience laughed as as he told the programme: "I am not going to deny it is a difficult situation, I am not going to deny it at all."

Asked why Mr Kwarteng had to go, but not Ms Truss, he said: "We've seen before with previous governments where a chancellor has been particularly identified with a policy, which hasn't worked out.

"Prime ministers haven't necessarily suffered the same fate.

"I think if we start with gay abandon, throwing another prime minister to the wolves, we're going to be faced with more delay, more debate, more instability, exactly the opposite of what I think we all need as we go into this winter."

Mr Davies, the chairman of the Welsh Conservatives, said Ms Truss should be backed.

"Every member of the Conservative party should be supporting our leader, especially when she's going through a tough period," he said.

"It's not an easy job being a prime minister, in fact it's a very very difficult job and she's run into a storm and it's a responsibility of all of us to help her come through that storm and to be a success."

But Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth, who led the Welsh Conservatives from 1999-2011, said "quite frankly" he did not think the prime minister could go on.

He told BBC Wales Today that "the policy has been shredded on which she won the leadership, she has shredded her chancellor".

"It's not just a question about the support of Conservative MPs or even Conservative membership, it's a question of the money markets, it's a question of reputation, and I just can't see how she can come through this," he added.

"I wish I could but that is the truth of the matter.

"The most important thing is to restore some sense of pragmatism, some sense of going forward, so that we can protect living standards, make sure that mortgage rates don't go up more than they already have done.

"And that really is the task of somebody who needs to take over the Conservative Party now."