Tuesday 4 October 2022 07:48 PM Priti Patel warns Tories against toppling Liz Truss and to avoid another ... trends now
Former home secretary Priti Patel today warned the Tories against toppling Liz Truss and to avoid another 'divisive' leadership election.
The ex-Cabinet minister used a speech at the Conservative conference in Birmingham to urge her party to 'stick together' and 'get behind the leadership'.
Her intervention follows a chaotic start to Ms Truss's spell as Prime Minister, with a U-turn on her mini-Budget and an outbreak of infighting between MPs and ministers.
Ms Patel reminded her fellow Tories they had 'a duty to serve our country' and it was 'a privilege to be in Government'.
But, while she offered a message of unity at the Birmingham conference, Ms Patel did deliver a fresh swipe at Ms Truss's unfunded tax cuts.
She warned both the PM and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, following turmoil on the financial markets following last month's mini-Budget, that the Tories would 'live or die' by their handling of the economy.
Priti Patel used a speech at the Conservative conference in Birmingham to urge her party to 'stick together' and 'get behind the leadership'
The former home secretary warned the Tories against toppling Liz Truss and to avoid another 'divisive' leadership election
Ms Patel's intervention follows a chaotic start to Ms Truss's spell as Prime Minister, with a U-turn on her mini-Budget and an outbreak of infighting between MPs and ministers
With Tory discipline threatening to collapse around Ms Truss during her first party conference as leader, Ms Patel was asked at a fringe event whether the PM needed to be replaced.
'We’ve just done that, my friend, we've just done all of that and nothing would be more divisive I think for the party and the country,' she replied to a party member, after her speech at a fringe event.
'I want us to be a successful, election-winning party.'
'We are stronger together and united and we will win by absolutely sticking together and we've got to do that, we really have.'
In a further plea for Tory unity, Ms Patel added: 'My message is very clear and very simple; we have a duty to serve our country and serve it well as proud Conservatives, we really do.
'It is a privilege to be in Government... our job is to deliver on our manifesto, to deliver on the people's priorities and just get behind the leadership of our party.'
But, despite rallying Tories around Ms Truss's leadership, Ms Patel did offer an attack on the PM's economic plans.
She said in her speech: 'We are spending today with no thought of tomorrow, and like the Blob in the old horror film, the more resources are absorbed today the bigger the problem gets and the more resources it will need to eat up tomorrow.
'Right now, we have got into a pattern of borrowing huge amounts to fix today's urgent problems or generate short-term populist headlines. Each time it seems that there's a good case, but what does this mean for future generations?
'I want to see our party regain its credibility by restoring its
