Inside Politics: Completely fracked

Hello there, I’m Matt Mathers and welcome to The Independent’s Inside Politics newsletter.

Bookmakers have now stopped taking bets on the lettuce outlasting Liz Truss.

The salad staple is now the overwhelming favourite and is in ebullient form following another difficult day for the prime minister.

“It’s clear from the scenes in the House of Commons last night that Truss has lost the dressing room,” the lettuce said.

“Look, I’m taking nothing for granted but I’m quite confident I can see this one through.”

Commons action gets underway at 9.30am with DCMS questions. After that Michael Ellis takes attorney general questions at 10.10am, followed by any urgent questions. After that Commons leader Penny Mordaunt gives the weekly business statement, followed by any other statements. The main business will be backbench debates on NHS dentistry and on Motor Neurone Disease.

A day of absolute chaos at Westminster ended with another cabinet minister leaving Truss’s government, two other ministers apparently quitting then not quitting, and claims of bullying by Conservative MPs in the Commons division lobby.

What the hell happened? Suella Braveman, the home secretary, walked over an apparent breach of security rules, blasting the PM in a scathing resignation letter on her way out of the door. You can read it in full here.

She was replaced by Grant “spreadsheet” Shapps, who adds another column to his political career after being turfed out by Truss when she entered No 10 Downing Street just weeks ago.

In any other period that might have been enough drama for one day. But these are not normal times and the sulphurous mood among a bitterly divided Conservative Party exploded when MPs gathered in the Commons to vote on a fracking motion put forward by Labour.

The government won the vote in the end but there have been claims made by Labour that some MPs had been “physically manhandled” and forced through the division lobby, allegations denied by ministers.

No 10 had said earlier in the day that the vote, which around 40 Tories did not take part in, was being treated as a confidence vote but then U-turned at the last minute, blaming a junior official for the communications failure. The Tory chief and deputy whips reportedly resigned amid the chaos but were then back in their jobs by 1.30am, with Downing Street U-turning again to say that the vote was in fact a confidence vote.

Conservative MP Simon Hoare told the BBC earlier that Truss had about “12 hours” to turn things around, otherwise she would have to go. Good luck.

open image in gallery

The use of zero-hours contracts has soared by 75 per cent since the government pledged to review the controversial practice nearly a decade ago, a new analysis shows.

And there has been an 86 per cent leap in the number of workers aged 35-49 placed on the arrangements – forcing more families to “rely on insecure work”, Labour is protesting.

Its study of official figures is revealed as Labour vows to ban zero-hours contracts – which put staff on standby, with no guarantee of any minimum work hours – as part of a New Deal for Working People.

“Tory ministers have failed for a decade to stamp out unfair working practices time and again. They’ve lost all credibility,” said Angela Rayner, the party’s deputy leader.

“The next Labour government will ban zero-hour contracts, protect rights at work and raise standards for all.”

See all of The Independent’s daily cartoons here

open image in gallery

Truss on why she will plough on in office.

“I’m a fighter, not a quitter.”

Byline Times politics editor Adam Bienkov on No 10 saying that the fracking motion was a confidence vote after all.

“Utterly farcical.”

Inside Politics first appeared in our daily morning email. You can sign up via this link.