Shropshire MP hits out over Tory chaos and calls for general election after Truss quits

Leading Lib Dem and Labour figures have reacted with dismay and anger at the chaos engulfing the Conservative Party and the Government, after Liz Truss resigned just 44 days after being made Prime Minister.

North Shropshire's Liberal Democrat MP, Helen Morgan, said that the current Downing Street 'soap opera' was failing people who are facing significant problem, from finances to poor health services.

She said that the public must now be given a say on the running of the country, through a general election.

Mrs Morgan said: "People are facing really huge challenges in their everyday lives, whether that is in health care, that they have had a horrible experience waiting for an ambulance, that they are struggling to pay their bills, and we have this saga going on in 10 Downing Street and we cannot have Downing Street treated as a rolling door for the next failed Conservative.

"We have had a crisis of integrity and political standards with Boris Johnson, and a crisis of economic competence from Liz Truss, we cannot take another crisis from another failed Tory Prime Minister."

She added: "People in North Shropshire are absolutely fed up to the back teeth of this but they are almost a bit ground down by it as well. They have watched on with horror at not being able to influence what happens next."

The Labour leader of Telford & Wrekin Council, Councillor Shaun Davies, said the current government has lacked competence – leading to financial pain for households across the country.

"The Conservative Government has demonstrated it lacks the competence and compassion to govern," he said.

"While they have crashed the economy and engaged in infighting, mortgage holders have seen on average a £500 increase in their mortgages, higher for rents, food and fuel.

"It is now time for people to decide who should form the next government, not a bunch of Conservative MPs who got us into this mess.

"There must be a general election."

Powys's leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Jane Dodds, said it was time for the public to be given a say.

She said: "Liz Truss was right to resign, but let's be clear, the problem isn’t just her or any individual minister – the entire Conservative Party is dysfunctional from top to bottom and is unfit to lead the country.

"Since 2015, the Conservatives have lurched from extreme to extreme, causing economic vandalism on a massive scale. We owe it to the households, individuals and businesses up and down Wales and the rest of the UK who have been hit hard by this crisis, to take firm action now.

"We do not need another Conservative Prime Minister lurching from crisis to crisis, we need a general election, we need the Conservatives out of power and we need real change.

"The Welsh Liberal Democrats are prepared to fight a general election and play our role in removing the Conservative Party from power."