The news was met with “shock, enormous sadness and disbelief,” a source said. The sequence of events helps explain the somber expression on Ms Truss’s face as she entered the chamber just before 11.40am, when she exchanged brief words with Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, before taking her seat on the front bench. . It also explains why Mr Zahawi’s subsequent intervention caused no visible shock or surprise. The joyous cheers from Tory MPs as Mrs Truss made her way to her seat were shaken by the Prime Minister’s insight into events at Balmoral. But it was another 30 minutes before it became apparent to others in the room that something was wrong. Ms Truss delivered the prepared statement, revealing that typical household energy bills would be capped at £2,500 over the next two years – an announcement that was meant to be earth-shaking but was to be overshadowed by an event that would reverberate around the world. Minutes after he had been seated and Sir Keir Starmer had begun to respond to the statement, Mr Zahawi entered the room and squeezed himself onto the front bench, between Mrs Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, the new chancellor. He began to whisper in the prime minister’s ear before handing her a note folded into a square. A similar note was given to Angela Rayner, Sir Keir’s deputy, as the Labor leader continued his reply.
