Tory MP Jamie Wallis demands Liz Truss quit over budget fiasco and calls out anti-trans ‘hostility’
Britain’s Conservative MP Jamie Wallis. (JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Trans Tory MP Jamie Wallis has called on Liz Truss to stand down as prime minister.
The MP for Bridgend said that Truss had “undermined Britain’s credibility” and “done clear and obvious harm to the British economy” through a series of “basic and unavoidable errors”.
Therefore, Wallis said, she has lost the confidence of the Tory party and the country, and must stand down.
Wallis, who came out as trans in March and uses still he/him pronouns, also condemned the prime minister for effectively endorsing transphobia.
“The [Tory] leadership contest was a particularly difficult time for me,” wrote Wallis on Sunday (16 October).
“Watching senior colleagues exploit the issue of transgender rights and weaponise it in order to score cheap political points was extremely unpleasant.
“But observing the hostile nature of the debate and then witnessing increased hostility towards transgender people on social media and in person was distressing.
“However, you chose not to challenge this behaviour and have now chosen to have those same colleagues sit alongside you in government.”
In his damning letter, Wallis also criticised Truss’ decision to pack her cabinet with supporters rather than those most qualified, as well as her handling of the press.
“Mistakes can be undone, and as one united team I believe we could achieve almost anything,” he wrote.
“However, whilst you are our leader, I no longer believe this is possible.”
In recent weeks, I have watched as the Government has undermined Britain’s economic credibility & fractured our Party irreparably.
Enough is enough.
I have written to the Prime Minister to ask her to stand down as she no longer holds the confidence of this country. pic.twitter.com/hHej8LGfJf
— Jamie Wallis MP (@JamieWallisMP) October 16, 2022
Wallis was applauded for calling out the Tories’ treatment of trans people.
Jayne Ozanne, the anti-conversion therapy campaigner and former LGBTQ+ advisor to the government, tweeted: “Bravo Jamie Wallis for calling out the deeply unpleasant focus on transgender rights during [the] leadership contest as another reason for Liz Truss to stand down.”
Bravo @JamieWallisMP for calling out the deeply unpleasant focus on #transgender rights during leadership contest as another reason for @trussliz to step down https://t.co/FSD5M7JVXe— Jayne Ozanne ?? (@JayneOzanne) October 16, 2022
Jamie Wallis’s letter came after Liz Truss attempted to save her political career by instructing chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to stand down, after their tax-cutting mini budget led to markets losing confidence in the Tories’ ability to balance the books.
Kwarteng was replaced with former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who looks certain to abandon the mini budget and its sweeping hand-outs for the rich (Truss has already confirmed she’s cancelled plans to ditch an increase in corporation tax, and that the 45p tax rate will remain in place after a previous U-turn by Kwarteng).
But it seems this may not be enough to secure Truss’ future.
Hours before the intervention by Wallis (who was found guilty of failing to stop and report a car crash in July) Tory MPs Crispin Blunt and Andrew Bridgen also called for the prime minister’s resignation.
It now seems a case of when – not if – Truss will be ousted, with papers speculating on a Tory plot to replace her with Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt without another protracted leadership contest.
