British PM Truss tells booing MPs she's no 'quitter'

British Prime Minister Liz Truss vowed on Wednesday not to quit as she faced booing lawmakers at her first parliamentary questions since abandoning a disastrous tax-slashing economic plan.

Truss faced hostile queries from opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer, who asked the House of Commons: "What's the point of a prime minister whose promises don't even last a week?"

Starmer mocked Truss by leading his MPs in chants of "Gone, gone!" as he read out a list of her dropped policies. "Why is she still here?" he concluded.

Truss responded defiantly: "I am a fighter and not a quitter", insisting that "I am someone who is prepared to front up. I'm prepared to take the tough decisions".

She said: "I have acted in the national interest to make sure that we have economic stability."

The session took place less than 48 hours after new finance minister Jeremy Hunt dismembered Truss's flagship tax plans in a humiliating blow. He sat at her side in parliament, nodding along to her responses.

While castigating Truss for conducting "an economic experiment on the British public", Starmer said dismissively: "How could she be held to account when she's not in charge?"

At least five Conservative party MPs have already publicly called for her to be replaced amid catastrophic popularity ratings.

In a sign of her weak hold on power, she pulled out of a planned event on Wednesday, reportedly over fears she may lose a key vote on a fracking ban.

Polls show Truss's personal and party ratings have plummeted, with YouGov saying Tuesday that -- within six weeks of taking power -- she had become the most unpopular leader it has ever tracked.

A separate survey of party members found that less than two months after electing her as Tory leader and prime minister, a majority now think she should go.

Foreign minister James Cleverly defended Truss on Sky News on Wednesday, however, saying he was "far from convinced" that "defenestrating another prime minister will either convince the British people that we're thinking about them or convince the markets to stay calm".

Meanwhile, the main Labour opposition has opened up huge poll leads over the ruling Conservatives, amid the recent fallout as well as the worsening cost-of-living crisis, with inflation jumping above 10 percent on Wednesday on soaring food prices.

More than three-quarters of people disapprove of the government – the highest in 11 years, YouGov said.

The government's September 23 mini-budget - which slashed a host of taxes without curbing spending - sent bond yields spiking and the pound collapsing to a record dollar-low on fears of rocketing UK debt.

Truss last week staged two U-turns, scrapping planned tax cuts for the richest earners and on company profits, and fired her close ally Kwasi Kwarteng as finance minister.

After appointing Hunt as his successor, she agreed to further reverse course, axing almost all the other cuts and partially rowing back on energy price support for consumers.