Huge roar of laughter after Penny Mordaunt says PM is ‘detained on urgent business’

Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt shows up for Keir Starmer’s urgent question instead of Liz Truss

Penny Mordaunt was met with a huge roar of laughter from the opposite benches after saying Liz Truss was ‘not hiding under a desk’.

The Prime Minister was accused of ‘running scared’ after failing to show up for Keir Starmer’s urgent question on her troubled financial plans.

In her place, she sent Ms Mordaunt, who told MPs: ‘With apologies to the Leader of the Opposition and the House, the PM is detained on urgent business… and I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with me.’

MPs could not help but laugh as they shouted ‘where is she?’ and ‘weak’.

The Labour leader took the opportunity to mock the PM, saying ‘the lady is not for turning – up’ – a play on Margaret Thatcher’s famous quote.

Sir Keir said: ‘I guess under this Tory Government, everybody gets to be Prime Minister for 15 minutes.’

He added: ‘It’s time for leaders to lead. But where is the Prime Minister? Hiding away, dodging questions, scared of her own shadow. The lady is not for turning – up.’

Labour MP Stella Creasy rose from the backbenches to say: ‘All we know right now is, unless she tells us otherwise, the Prime Minister is cowering under her desk and asking for it all to go away.’

Ms Mordaunt replied: ‘Well, the Prime Minister is not under a desk, as the honourable lady says…’

The minister could barely be heard above the laughter and heckling from opposition MPs.

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The PM’s failure to appear before the Commons comes after her newly installed Chancellor Jeremy Hunt scrapped her controversial tax measures and announced a shock U-turn on energy bill support.

Ms Truss was also accused of not turning up to face the music last week when she refused to face MPs after sacking Kwasi Kwarteng.

She did give a press conference on Friday, but left after eight minutes, answering only four questions from journalists.

In his emergency statement this morning, Mr Hunt said help with energy bills will only last for six months, rather than the two years promised by Mr Kwarteng.

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He promised to review how the government helps those worst off after April.

Mr Hunt also confirmed he is ditching Mr Kwarteng’s planned cut to income tax, which will remain at 20p indefinitely ‘until circumstances allow’.

‘We will reverse almost all the tax measures announced in the growth plan three weeks ago that have not started parliamentary legislation,’ he said.

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The chancellor said the tax cut reversals will raise £32 billion a year and his main objective was ensuring ‘stability’.

His full fiscal plan will be published on October 31, but the complete overhaul of Ms Truss’s own policies may have sealed her fate in Downing Street.

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