Tory MP says Liz Truss's Government 'treating the whole country as laboratory mice' over economic policy

A Tory MP has launched a blistering attack on Prime Minister Liz Truss's economic policies, claiming the Government has 'treated the whole country as kind of laboratory mice on which to carry out ultra free market experiments'.

Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP for Harlow, called for a 'dramatic reset' after U-turns in Kwasi Kwarteng's so-called mini-budget followed the appointment of a new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt. And he said the Government needed to apologise for the financial chaos of recent weeks.

Mr Halfon stopped short of calling on Liz Truss to quit as Prime Minister, but pointed to 'one horror show after another'. And he didn't deny that some of his Tory colleagues were plotting to remove her from Downing Street, saying they were 'unhappy with what is going on' and the party was 'haemorrhaging' at the polls.

Speaking on Sunday on Sky News, Mr Halfon said: "I worry that over the past few weeks, the Government has looked like libertarian jihadists and treated the whole country as kind of laboratory mice on which to carry out ultra, ultra free market experiments. And this is not where the country is. There's been one horror story after another."

Asked if Ms Truss should lead his party into the next election, he said: "At this time, I'm not calling for the Prime Minister to go. I worry about further political instability, but even more economic instability. But things have to improve.

"Because if things don’t change, I just think that perhaps things may not be able to carry on in the way that they have been."

The MP didn't elaborate in detail over what fellow Tory members were saying. But he said: "Of course, colleagues are unhappy with what is going on. We've haemorrhaged in the opinion polls. The public just