Waiting for the curtain

Liz Truss’s tenure in 10 Downing Street looks to be drawing to a close in confusion and acrimony.Only yesterday, the prime minister fired on [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( Liz Truss’s tenure in 10 Downing Street looks to be drawing to a close in confusion and acrimony. Only yesterday, the prime minister fired one of her most senior ministers, then saw two more resign before agreeing to stay in their posts. She turned a minor vote into a make-or-break test of her authority and then managed it in such clumsy fashion that she may have convinced most of her party that her time is up. Key reading: - [Truss’s Government on the Brink as Tories Agitate for Her to Go]( - [Truss Fires Home Secretary as UK Government Risks Imploding]( - [UK Political Turmoil Is Driving Traders Out of the Gilt Market]( - [UK Recession Looms After Liz Truss’s Growth Program Backfires]( - [The Breakfast Index Shows Fry-Up Costs 20% More Than Last Year]( The real question now is how they administer the last rites. In just six weeks in office, Truss has triggered a run on the pound, been bailed out by the Bank of England, abandoned almost her entire policy program and fired her closest political ally. As Conservative Party elders try to work out how to persuade her to go and who should take over, they are surveying a bleak economic and political legacy. Inflation is at a 40-year high and fears are growing that the UK has already slipped into recession. The emergency reverse budget that Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt outlined last week means the highest tax burden in 70 years is due to rise even as the government prepares brutal spending cuts to threadbare public services in a bid to stabilize the nation’s finances. Truss’s Tories have fallen more than 30 points behind the Labour opposition in the latest opinion polls, the biggest lead for any party in a quarter century. That’s left her MPs chattering not about how they can win the next election, due by January 2025, but how they can avoid a complete wipeout. — [Ben Sills]( Truss during prime minister’s questions yesterday. Photographer: Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament Click [here]( to listen to our Twitter Space at 8am ET with reporters about the future of Truss’s premiership. And if you’re enjoying this newsletter, click [here]( to sign up. Global Headlines New title | Lingxiu, or “leader” — that’s the new title for Chinese President Xi Jinping gaining traction among Communist Party elites and sparking concern of a [personality cult]( in the style of Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic. It’s the latest sign Xi is set to further consolidate even more unofficial authority within the party while risking a backlash among those who see him as amassing too much power. - Xi’s pledge to [regulate wealth]( has stirred speculation Beijing may impose property and inheritance taxes on the rich in pursuit of its “common prosperity” goal. - China’s top technology overseer called a series of [emergency meetings]( in the past week with major semiconductor companies to assess the damage from Washington’s chip restrictions. Criminal conduct | A US judge ordered documents that Donald Trump’s lawyer tried to shield from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection to be disclosed because they featured evidence of potential [criminal]( activity by the former president and his allies. The findings don’t bind prosecutors to take action, but the case marks the first time a judge publicly stated Trump likely committed federal crimes. - Trump answered questions under oath during a [deposition]( sought by New York author E. Jean Carroll, who alleges he raped her two decades ago and defamed her when he denied it. US Midterms Latest - ​​​​[Peter Thiel-Backed Candidates Struggle to Find Other Donors]( - [Pennsylvania Vote Chaos Looms, With Control of Senate in Balance]( - [Campaign Spending on 2022 Midterm State Races to Hit $7 Billion]( Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pitches Canada as a global climate leader, but the nation’s greenhouse gases tell an entirely [different]( story. In the seven years since Trudeau took office, emissions have plateaued while the economy has expanded 8%. All of Canada’s peers in the Group of Seven have managed to achieve economic growth while simultaneously cutting pollution. Power curbs | President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Ukrainians to consume [electricity]( “with awareness” today after the grid operator warned of rolling blackouts because of damage to power infrastructure from Russian missile attacks. President Vladimir Putin ordered the imposition of dramatically [heightened]( security, including restrictions on movement, in regions along Russia’s border with Ukraine. - The US, France and the UK have called for a special United Nations Security Council briefing regarding [evidence]( that Russia has procured Iranian drones for the war. - Two Russian nationals were arrested and several other individuals charged with evading sanctions to [smuggle]( US military technology, some of which was used in Ukraine. Best of Bloomberg Opinion - [With Liz Truss Flailing, Jeremy Hunt Must Take Charge]( - [Vladimir Putin’s Guide to Alienating Allies: Clara F Marques]( - [Xi’s Cadre Pension-Age Limit Makes No Sense: Shuli Ren]( Losing ground | President Jair Bolsonaro is cutting into Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s lead in opinion polls before Brazil’s Oct. 30 runoff election. The leftist challenger saw his advantage over the right-wing incumbent [narrow]( to 5.6 percentage points in a Quaest poll published yesterday from nearly 8 points two weeks ago. Lula is losing ground in four of Brazil’s five regions, the survey showed. Explainers you can use - [Why Malaysia Has Early Elections and What Is at Stake]( - [How Omicron’s Subvariants Have Turbo-Charged Covid]( - [Small Gunmakers Find State Weapons Bans Offer Lucrative Niche]( Comeback politics | After Sri Lankan protesters booted out Gotabaya Rajapaksa as leader earlier this year, his supporters are now looking to water down their demands to curb the powers of the presidency. Lawmakers allied to the Rajapaksa family are attempting to scale back a constitutional amendment that would make the president more accountable to parliament, which would help ease a [political revival]( for the clan that dominated the nation’s politics for two decades. Protesters attempt to break the gate of the prime minister’s office on July 13. Photographer: Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images You can listen [here]( to yesterday’s Twitter Space with reporters about what is going on between the US and Saudi Arabia. News to Note - Chinese officials are debating the length of [mandatory quarantine]( for visitors, sources say, as the Covid Zero policy leaves the country increasingly isolated. - German and French finance ministers showed [little enthusiasm]( for new joint European Union debt instruments to provide financial support to countries struggling with the energy crisis. - Italy’s former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, told lawmakers that Zelenskiy [pushed]( Putin into an endless war in Ukraine, according to a recording obtained by an Italian newswire. - Malaysia will hold a [general election]( on Nov. 19 with Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s party looking to capitalize on a string of victories from local polls. - The US has decided to support formal UN negotiations over possible [compensation]( to countries that suffer devastation from storms, floods and droughts made far worse by climate change, senior administration officials said. And finally ... Putin’s face daubed onto a building in Belgrade has the eyes and mouth covered in red paint, perhaps a surprising sight in a pro-Russian country. But the friendship between Serbia and Russia is an increasingly [awkward]( one: While it has been adept at balancing its geopolitical and economic interests between east and west, the war has raised questions in Belgrade over where Serbia’s interests actually lie in the new world order. The defaced street mural of Putin, where “Brat,” or “Brother,” has been altered to “Rat,” Serbian for “War,” in Belgrade on Oct. 10. Photographer: Rodney Jefferson/Bloomberg Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Balance of Power newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022