A WhatsApp group once used to support Liz Truss’ leadership campaign has begun to see several MPs joining once again, sources have told Sky News.

The former prime minister is said to be on manoeuvres with fellow like-minded MPs ahead of the Budget to lobby the government for tax cuts.

And the revival of this WhatsApp group demonstrates there is still an appetite for deregulation and a smaller state among some MPs.

Politics live: Sunak marks 100 days in office – here’s the daunting challenge that lies ahead

The Conservative Growth Group – a group of Tory MPs who still believe in Ms Truss’s vision for the UK – appears determined to turn up the pressure on the current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, as sources familiar with the WhatsApp group told Sky News: “There’s a lot going on behind the scenes.”

However, a member of Ms Truss’s team has denied any knowledge of movement within WhatsApp groups linked to her previous campaign.

Some members of the backbench 1922 committee of Conservative MPs – which celebrated its 100 year birthday on Tuesday – raised their concerns regarding the high tax burden with the chancellor.

Westminster Accounts: 14 MPs given over £250,000 each in campaign donations since the last election

2022 in political quotes – from cake ambushes to tractors

Sky News Daily: Politics – the Year in Review with Beth Rigby

Speaking to Sky News after the meeting, Sir Edward Leigh said he had suggested to Jeremy Hunt he make reducing taxes a top priority.

“I said ‘you can’t wait until the general election’,” added Sir Edward. “People are depressed. You’ve got to give them hope.

“You’ve got to say: ‘We made the right decisions in September, therefore that’s given me room in this budget to cut taxes, whether it’s corporation, personal or fuel.”

Next month, the chancellor will outline his plan for growth and prosperity, having already warned that now is not the time for tax cuts while inflation is still the Treasury’s priority.

But while economic growth remains minimal and is projected to go into decline, this faction of the Conservative Party is likely to get louder as the spring statement looms.

The next general election is at the forefront of the Conservative Growth Group’s mission, but with a deepening cost of living crisis, public sector budgets squeezed and a modest number of supporters, it is not clear as to whether their demands will be met.

Related posts:

Sir Keir Starmer insists he ‘carries the can’ for Labour election results tomorrow Vote 2021: When will the key results be declared? PM refuses to apologise for remark about Thatcher closing coal mines as backlash grows Surge in COVID cases among armed forces ‘threatens national security’ Don’t see economic growth and climate action as ‘mutually exclusive’, ex-PM May tells Tories Tax hike will raise ‘enough money’ to pay for social care reforms – Javid ‘Just answer the question’: Scottish Tory leader demands PM reveals ‘right now’ whether he attended No 10 lockdown drinks ‘The problem that women have over and over again in public life’: UK-born ex-Trump adviser on Angela Rayner ‘putdown’ ‘Keep your hands in your pockets’: All women in parliament have faced ‘wandering hands’, says female minister Liz Truss to join King at ‘services of reflection’ during national mourning It’s clear the Truss premiership has failed – now we wait for the herd to move | Beth Rigby ‘Once again spat on’: Braverman faces backlash for rowing back on Windrush reforms