PMQs at a glance: Truss vows to fight on as Starmer lands blows on U-turns

The beleaguered Prime Minister has endured a brutal clash with Sir Keir Starmer in the Commons as she fights to win back the trust of both her party and the country.

Foreign Secretary and loyal Liz Truss supporter James Cleverly said prior to Wednesday’s outing that his boss had been “very comfortable” at the despatch box at previous Prime Minister’s Questions.

But with speculation that the Chancellor is now in the driving seat after putting the PM’s economic strategy through the shredder, Ms Truss was under serious pressure to prove her worth in the chamber.

The Prime Minister attempted to strike a defiant tone in the face of relentless heckling from the Opposition benches, while the Tory benches were noticeably subdued.

Here are some of the key moments from her exchange with the Labour leader and subsequent grilling by MPs.

– Gone, gone, gone

Sir Keir hurled the PM’s U-turns at her from across the chamber as he read out a list of her dropped economic policies, echoed by a chorus of his MPs chanting “gone” after each one.

He concluded: “Economic credibility – gone. And her supposed best friend the former chancellor, he’s gone as well. They’re all gone. So why is she still here?”

Earlier, Sir Keir joked: “A book is being written about the Prime Minister’s time in office.

“Apparently it’s going to be out by Christmas. Is that the release date or the title?”

– Fighter, not a quitter

Ms Truss made it clear she plans to battle on, as she twice told MPs she is a “fighter, not a quitter” – echoing the 2001 declaration made by Labour grandee Peter Mandelson.

She pointed to her “record of action” on energy prices, reversing the national insurance rise and taking on the “militant unions”.

The PM claimed the Labour leader had “no plan and no alternative”.

– A government in waiting?

Ms Truss deflected criticism of the economic chaos that has rocked her early premiership by turning the spotlight on Labour, accusing the party opposite of not being honest with the British people.

Sir Keir quipped this was because she viewed Labour as a “government in waiting”, to cheers from his MPs, adding that the Tories were “an Opposition in waiting”.

Responding to the accusation she had “crashed the economy”, Ms Truss said: “I do think there has to be some reflection of economic reality from the party opposite.

“The fact is that interest rates are rising across the world and the economic conditions have worsened.

“And we are being honest, we’re levelling with the public unlike the honourable gentleman, who simply won’t do it.”

– Pensions rise locked in

In news that will have come as a huge relief to many across the country, Ms Truss insisted she is “completely committed” to the triple lock on state pensions.

It comes just a day after Downing Street triggered a backlash by indicating it could be ditched.

“We’ve been clear in our manifesto that we will maintain the triple lock and I’m completely committed to it – so is the Chancellor,” she said.

But she did not commit to maintaining the link between benefits and inflation, despite insisting she would protect the most vulnerable.

– ‘I am sorry’

Ms Truss opened PMQs by reiterating that she was “sorry” and admitting to her “mistakes”.

“I have been very clear that I am sorry and that I have made mistakes,” she said.

“But the right thing to do in those circumstances is to make changes, which I have made, and to get on with the job and deliver for the British people.”

Shouts of “resign” could be heard as she spoke.