The Cabinet tries to keep Liz Truss in office till Halloween

Talking to members of the Cabinet last night, it’s clear there is a collective will among ministers to try to keep Liz Truss in office till 31 October, so that the chancellor can determine which further taxes need to rise and what spending should be cut in that de facto budget, the medium term fiscal plan, without the instability of not knowing who will be next PM.

But their loyalty to her extends no longer than Halloween, and this minister also told me the Cabinet’s support couldn’t even be guaranteed for just those 10 days.

For Truss, of course, any stay of execution delivers her the hope that maybe there are plausible circumstances in which she won’t be evicted.

For her, those 10 days are incredibly precious, a theoretical lifeline, which is why she had to put out that humiliating 1.33am statement stating she has “full confidence” in her chief and deputy chief whips, after last night’s voting chaos.

One more sacking or resignation of a senior colleague and all the wheels of her bus will have come off.

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