Tory chiefs vow ‘brutal’ crackdown on infighting with rebels facing being stripped of the whip – after No10 rebukes Home Secretary Suella Braverman for saying she wants to pull out of the European human rights body

• Liz Truss is due to deliver her keynote speech to Conservative Party conference in Birmingham this morning
• The PM faces a huge challenge to try and unite Tories engaged in brutal civil war over benefits and tax rates 
• Ms Truss will insist her ‘new approach’ is vital to tackle challenge Britain faces and ‘change means disruption’

Tory chiefs are threatening a ‘brutal’ crackdown on infighting in the wake of the chaotic party conference.

The gathering in Birmingham has been overshadowed by the meltdown as MPs and Cabinet ministers openly traded blows over tax rates and benefits.

But there is expected to be a major effort to get a grip when Parliament returns next week, with threats to strip the party whip from anyone who fails to support the growth plan.

Stark warnings are also circulating that an early election could be triggered if there is a move to oust Ms Truss. 

Rebels such as Michael Gove and Grant Shapps had indicated they would not back the abolition of the top rate of tax, forcing Ms Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng to U-turn. Although that showdown has been avoided, there is a looming clash if the premier tries to limit benefit rises to average wages rather than inflation.  

Last night No10 slapped down Home Secretary Suella Braverman after she called for the UK to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights – which is not government policy. 

The tough tactics are reminiscent of Boris Johnson stripping the whip from MPs who voted against Brexit deals.

Ms Truss faces a make-or-break moment just a month into her premiership today as she tries to unite warring Tories with her keynote conference speech.

The PM will plead for her troops to get behind her vision of ‘a new Britain for a new era’, insisting they should ignore the noise of those who do not agree with her policies. 

‘Not everyone will be in favour,’ she will say. ‘But everyone will benefit from the result – a growing economy and a better future.’ 

In a round of interviews this morning, Ms Cleverly insisted Ms Truss will lead the Tories into the next election – dismissing warnings that she only has 10 days to save herself.

‘I like the fact that she says what she’s going to do and then does what she says,’ he told BBC Breakfast.

‘She is delivering from day one on the things she said she would do because, as I say, she recognises that if you don’t go for growth you end up with either stagnation or recession and that is not what we want to do.’

In other twists and turns as Ms Truss faces her moment of truth at conference:

• MPs and Tory aides are being ordered to stay in Birmingham for the leader’s speech amid fears the train strike and low morale could see the hall half-empty;  
• Confusion surrounds the date of Mr Kwarteng’s fiscal statement, with the Chancellor publicly saying it will be on November 23 but aides insisting it will happen sooner;
• A shock Redfield & Wilton poll shows Labour ahead by 38 per cent in the Red Wall, up from a 15 per cent lead two weeks ago. 

There is expected to be a major effort to get a grip when Parliament returns next week, with threats to strip the party whip from anyone who fails to support the growth plan. Pictured, Tory MPs at PMQs last month

Last night No10 slapped down Home Secretary Suella Braverman after she called for the UK to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights – which is not government policy

The Prime Minister will use her keynote speech, pictured practising, to the Conservative Party conference to try to unite warring Tories behind her vision of a ‘new Britain for a new era

A shock poll last night showed Labour leading by 38 points in the Red Wall, up from a 15-point lead just two weeks ago 

In her speech at around 11am, Ms Truss is expected to say: ‘The scale of the challenge is immense. War in Europe for the first time in a generation.

‘A more uncertain world in the aftermath of Covid. And a global economic crisis.

‘That is why in Britain we need to do things differently. Whenever there is change, there is disruption. Not everyone will be in favour.

‘But everyone will benefit from the result – a growing economy and a better future.’ Miss Truss will add: ‘That is what we have a clear plan to deliver.’ 

The PM has already been obliged to abandon her plan to scrap the 45p top rate of tax.

Several Cabinet ministers as well as a swathe of MPs are opposed to plans to squeeze £7billion from the welfare budget by capping rises in benefit payments to average incomes rather than inflation. 

Ministers are braced for more controversy this month when the Government publishes proposals for radical ‘supply side’ reforms in eight areas covering everything from planning and employment rights to farming and fracking.

However, the PM will insist she is right to focus on super-charging growth rather than obsessing over arguments about redistribution.

‘For too long, our economy has not grown as strongly as it should have done,’ she will say. ‘For too long, the political debate has been dominated by how we distribute a limited economic pie.

‘Instead, we need to grow the pie so that everyone gets a bigger slice.

‘That is why I am determined to take a new approach and break us out of this high-tax, low-growth cycle. That is what our plan is about: Getting our economy growing and rebuilding Britain through reform.’ Conservative sources said Miss Truss planned to make a short, focused speech of about half an hour – roughly half the duration of a typical leader’s address.

A source said the premier will acknowledge that ‘mistakes have been made’ in the early days of her administration. 

Ms Truss will also try to turn fire on Labour, arguing that Keir Starmer does not understand the scale of the reforms needed to kickstart growth.

Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt at conference yesterday. Right, Michael Gove taking a cigarette break at the conference

Ms Truss and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng (pictured together on a visit to a construction site near Birmingham yesterday) have been forced to U-turn on plans to abolish the 45p tax rate 

Alongside measures to boost growth, the Prime Minister will insist she will keep an ‘iron grip’ on the nation’s finances, with a leaner state offering value for taxpayers’ money. 

She will say: ‘This is a great country. But I know that we can do better and we must do better. We have huge talent across the country. We’re not making enough of it.

‘To deliver this, we need to get Britain moving. We cannot have any more drift and delay at this vital time.’

Ms Truss wrote on Twitter last night: ‘We are the only party with a clear plan to grow our economy and get Britain moving. We are the only party with the determination to deliver. Together, we can unleash the full potential of our great country.’

Whips have been appealing to MPs not to leave the conference before the Prime Minister speaks – a process not helped by rail strikes today which will cripple services to Birmingham.

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