Truss’s testing week ahead: where the PM has to prove herself, day by day
Politics has been on hold since the Queen’s death, overshadowing Liz Truss’s first days in office, including her massive spending to bring down energy bills. The new prime minister has been forced to tear up the blueprint for her early weeks in No 10 and push back a planned “policy blitz” and the final touches to her reshuffle. After the Queen’s funeral, normal business will resume, although Truss faces many challenges.
Sunday Truss will hold a series of informal meetings at Downing Street with a small number of world leaders in the UK to attend the funeral. No 10 has played down the significance of the talks, saying that much of the discussion will involve reflecting on the Queen. Aides’ refusal to brief reporters on the content of the talks because of the national mourning period has raised some eyebrows. Truss will meet the US president, Joe Biden, for the first time since she took over, with tensions already strained by her threats to rip up the post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland and Biden’s reluctance to strike a free trade deal with Britain as a result. She will also meet the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, over the ongoing Northern Ireland protocol row. Truss has an audience with the King at the palace and attends a heads of state reception in the evening.
MondayThe eyes of the world will be on the Queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey where Truss will be among the mourners and will read a lesson during the service. She will later travel to Windsor along with other leaders of Commonwealth countries, including Canada’s Justin Trudeau, Australia’s Anthony Albanese and New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern, for the committal service. Her leadership since the Queen’s death will set the tone for her premiership.
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