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Is combative: Liz Truss
Photo: JESSICA TAYLOR / AFP
The government crisis in London, which has been smoldering for weeks, worsened considerably on Wednesday.
After Prime Minister Liz Truss showed defiance during Question Time in Parliament at noon and refused to resign, the situation has apparently gotten completely out of control since the evening:
First, the conservative head of government lost her second cabinet member within days with the probably forced resignation of Interior Minister Suella Braverman.
Some of the group leadership later reportedly resigned after the government initially declared a parliamentary vote a vote of confidence but backtracked at the last minute.
The situation for Truss seems to be considerably worse than the day before.
The 47-year-old, who has only been in office for six weeks, is fighting for office after she triggered financial chaos with planned tax breaks and had to make an about-face.
According to unconfirmed reports, Chief Whip in charge of party discipline, Wendy Morton, resigned shortly after a vote in the House of Commons.
The motion by the opposition Labor Party was rejected by a large majority.
But many Conservative MPs are said to have been extremely reluctant to vote against the initiative, which was intended to introduce legislation to ban fracking.
There may also have been a number of abstentions.
Screams and kicks before the ballot?
Labor MP Chris Bryant and other members of the opposition also accused Conservative MPs of being pushed in a certain direction, sometimes with shouts and shoves, and that they were not able to vote freely and unhindered.
In the conservative faction, nerves are stretched to breaking point.
The chaos throws "a pathetic light on the Conservative party and the current government in every respect," MP Charles Walker said in an interview with the BBC.
There is no turning back from this situation, in his 17 years in Parliament he has never seen anything comparable.
'It's a mess and a disgrace.
I'm incredibly shocked, I'm angry," Walker said.
Only last Friday, Truss fired her Treasury Secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, and replaced her with former Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt.
On Monday, Hunt reversed almost all elements of its tax policy, which was only announced at the end of September.
He announced that the energy price cap, which was actually intended for two years, would be limited to six months.
Truss transferred Braverman's post to ex-Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, who is also considered to be experienced.
But it is questionable whether she can save her office with this.
dop/dpa