It is hard to see the UK government now having the clout now to stand up to the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol

It is not just hindsight to say that Liz Truss, and perhaps this Tory government, have been fatally holed by the mini-budget of September 23 — it was foreseeable at the time.

The problem was not that Ms Truss, via her now sacked Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, cut taxes. It was not even the fact that they cut the top rate of income tax of 45%.

That levy on every extra pound earned over £150,000 of income was in fact 47% when National Insurance is factored in, thus meaning that the highest earners lost almost half their income above that point, something that even the Labour government of Tony Blair thought too confiscatory.

Lowering it to 40% was no act of cruel generosity to the rich.

The problem was that it was uncosted and that it was done as if powerful institutions such as the Bank of England were of no consequence.

Furthermore, it was done by a Tory government that was already vulnerable, after years of convulsions at its highest levels and after a pandemic battered UK finances.

Ms Truss and Mr Kwarteng did not show themselves as strong in that financial statement but impotent.

The prime minister might just survive in office because there is no obvious alternative to her. But her image will struggle to recover.

Jeremy Hunt is an experienced ex minister who is a good choice as chancellor amidst this crisis. But Ms Truss is not only politically damaged, she is made to look ridiculous by having to promote the sort of Tory politician she felt she was powerful enough to snub only weeks ago.

Meanwhile, alarmingly, despite what Steve Baker says (see pages 14 and 15) it is hard to see her government having the clout now to stand up to the EU over the NI Protocol.