Category Archives: liz truss

Mishal Husain Slams Tories’ ‘Economic Competence’ In Spat With Jeremy Hunt

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Mishal Husain did not let Jeremy Hunt boast about the UK’s economic growth today and reminded him of the disasters the country has faced under the Tories.

While the chancellor was celebrating the news from the ONS that the UK is officially out of recession, the Today programme host kicked off the interview by saying: “It’s not a strong recovery is it?

“Some people would call it anaemic. You’re not calling it strong are you?

“That’s not what it is. The economy has barely grown over the last two years.”

Hunt claimed over the last quarter, the UK had the joint-highest growth in the G7– and then blamed slow growth on the Bank of England’s high interest rates.

Husain hit back: “You’re portraying yourself as the people in whose hands the economy is safe, and yet many voters, particularly those who are perhaps finding themselves re-mortgaging this month on higher rates and seeing the facts that fixed rate mortgage deals have been edging up – and others – will be remembering what happened under Liz Truss and that mini-budget.

“And they’ll say: ‘How can you possibly, after the events of the last two and half years, portray yourself as the party of economy competence?’”

Sunak’s predecessor unveiled £45bn of unfunded tax cuts in her mini-budget in 2022, causing the pound to plummet.

“Well, there were some mistakes that were made in that mini-budget and we corrected them within weeks,” the chancellor said.

He also pointed to the energy shock triggered by the Ukraine war and said it was “just wrong” to attribute all price rises to the mini-budget.

“But, it wasn’t economically competent, was it, to do that?” Husain pushed. “And do you accept that it’s fair for voters to go into the next election, remembering that happened under the Conservatives?”

Hunt said the “overall picture” shows that the UK has grown faster than France, Germany, Italy and Japan since the Conservatives took over in 2010.

He also pointed to the IMF’s predictions that the UK would continue to grow faster over the next six years.

He failed to mention that the think tank OECD predicted last week the UK would be the second slowest-growing economy in 2024, and the slowest in 2025.

Hunt maintained that voters support the Conservative Party because “they trust us to take tough and difficult decisions in the long-term interest of the economy”.

“You’re asking us to ignore Liz Truss, aren’t you? To say Liz Truss never happened,” Husain said – which Hunt denied.

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Kwasi Kwarteng Lashes Out At Liz Truss Over His ‘Trumpian’ Sacking

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Liz Truss’s spurned former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has taken aim at the ex-PM for sacking him in a “kind of Trumpian” manner.

Truss appointed Kwarteng as her chancellor as soon as she was elected – but she gave him the boot just 43 days later, blaming him for the chaos of their mini-budget of £45m of unfunded tax cuts.

Not that this decision saved the ex-PM’s skin. Six days after that, Truss was forced to resign herself and had to to hand the reins over to her Tory leadership rival Rishi Sunak.

Still, more than a year later, Kwarteng has said his rapid departure from government was “one of the things that I feel bad about” because Truss reacted so quickly to the pressure to remove him.

Speaking to the One Decision podcast, Kwarteng compared his sacking to the way ex-US president Donald Trump famously fired his own members of staff while in the White House.

He explained that he was returning from a meeting in Washington with the International Monetary Fund when he scrolled through social media – and saw messages about his own future in politics.

He said: “I was sacked, essentially on Twitter. So, kind of Trumpian.”

Kwarteng continued: “I was due back on the Saturday morning, and I came back on the Friday morning and I was driven to Downing Street and I was essentially sacked.

“But on the way to Downing Street, I could see on Twitter, I think it was Steve Swinford of the Times had said… ‘The chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, sacked’ [or] ‘was sacked’ or ‘has been sacked’ – I don’t know what tense it was but the message was clear.”

The ex-chancellor said his meeting with the then prime minister after that was “definitive”.

While Truss did not actually tweet that she was going to fire Kwarteng before she announced it to him (like Trump), the ex-chancellor did still find out via social media.

The two were close allies, having both entered parliament as new Tory MPs in 2010 and rising through the ranks of government together.

It seems they were destined to leave government together, too – as Kwarteng told the podcast, “it was obvious to me that once I’d been sacked it was over for her”.

The ex-chancellor has mostly avoided the spotlight since then, and has announced he will be stepping down as an MP at the next general election.

Truss, meanwhile, has been focused on appealing to a more right-wing audience, reforming her image and promoting her new book Ten Years To Save The West.

She has also endorsed Trump to be the next US president.

Both have refused to take responsibility for the chaos of their mini-budget, suggesting it was more the speed at which they introduced the reforms rather than the reforms themselves.

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Chris Mason Skewers Liz Truss For Not ‘Lasting Longer Than A Lettuce’

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Chris Mason clashed with Liz Truss over whether the public cared about her “lasting less time than a lettuce”.

The BBC’s political editor said the UK had been left “an international laughing stock” by her 49-day stint as prime minister.

As she battled to survive in No.10, the Daily Star began a stunt to see whether she could outlast a lettuce. She didn’t.

In an interview for a BBC podcast, Mason told Truss: “Your time as prime minister left the UK as an international laughing stock.”

The ex-PM replied: “Well I don’t think that’s true.”

Mason hit back: “All the stuff about lasting less time than a lettuce.”

Truss described that as “pathetic point scoring”.

She added: “This is the kind of thing that obsesses what I describe as the London elite. What do other people think of me? What’s Brtain’s international standing?

“Britain’s international standing will be improved …”

But Mason interrupted her to say: “It’s not just people in wine bars in London who were interested in whether or not a prime minister lasted longer than a lettuce.

“People could see there was a situation where you were humiliated and so people felt that the country was humiliated.”

Truss replied: “I put forward what were perfectly rational policies that I’d won a leadership election on.”

But Mason told her: “The reality is that it blew up.”

The Daily Star’s gimmick became an internet sensation during Truss’s 49 days as PM.

It was inspired by an article in The Economic, which said: “Ms Truss entered Downing Street on September 6th.

“She blew up her own government with a package of unfunded tax cuts and energy-price guarantees on September 23rd.

“Take away the ten days of mourning after the death of the Queen, and she had seven days in control. That is the shelf-life of a lettuce.”

The Daily Star set up a live action cam on YouTube with a real (60p) lettuce next to a picture of Truss to see which would last longer.

Asked at a conference in Dublin last year whether she could now see “the funny side”, Truss said: “I don’t think it’s funny, I just think it’s puerile.”

However, she had earlier said “the irreverence of the media in Britain is a good thing on the whole”.

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Liz Truss Has Raised Eyebrows By Turning Up At Nigel Farage’s 60th Birthday Party

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The former prime minister was spotted in the background of a picture taken at the bash, which was held in a posh London restaurant.

Right-wing Tory MP Andrea Jenkyns posted the snap on X (formerly Twitter last night).

In it, she is standing alongside Farage and his Leave.EU ally Aaron Banks.

Truss, who was prime minister for 49 days before being forced to quit after her mini-Budget sparked economic chaos, can clearly be seen in the background turning towards the camera.

Speaking in February, Truss said she would like to see Farage join the Conservative Party to “help turn our country around”.

Nevertheless, it is surprising to see a former Tory PM attend a celebration being thrown for a man who has stood against the party on numerous occasions and is set to throw his weight behind Reform UK at the upcoming general election.

Her presence at the event did not go on-noticed on social media – with some users unable to resist the temptation to refer to the fact that Truss was outlasted by a lettuce during her brief stint in No.10.

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A Video Of Penny Mordaunt Endorsing Liz Truss Has Left People Questioning Her Judgement

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A video has re-emerged of Penny Mordaunt backing Liz Truss amid mounting speculation she could be the next prime minister.

The clip, which has been watched more than half a million times in the last 24 hours, shows Mordaunt praising Truss’s “bold economic plan”.

She also claims Truss “embodies the vision and values the British public”.

The video was filmed during the first Tory leadership contest of 2022, after Mordaunt had left the race.

In a speech to Tory members, she says: “Who can lead? Who can build that team and deliver for pour country? Who does have that bold economic plan that our nation needs?

“Who’s got reach, who can relate to people, who understands that people need help with the cost of living now? And who is going to rightly clobber our opponents?

“Who is going to hold seats and win back councils, and who most embodies the vision and values the British public had in their heads and their hearts when they voted in 2016 and 2019?

“At the start of this final phase of the contest I didn’t know the answer to those questions, but I’ve seen enough to know who the person that I’m going to put my faith in is. And that is Liz Truss.”

Truss went on to last just 49 days in No.10 after her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget triggered an economic crisis.

Tory rebels are reportedly planning to oust Rishi Sunak and replace him with with Mordaunt as the opinion polls continue to suggest the party is heading for catastrophe at the general election.

But the video of Mordaunt endorsing Truss has led social media users to question her suitability to lead the country.

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Tory MP Says He Quit £120,000 Ministerial Job As Couldn’t Afford Mortgage Hike

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A Conservative MP has revealed he quit his £120,000-a-year ministerial job last year because he could not afford soaring mortgage costs.

George Freeman, who resigned as science minister in November, said his repayments jumped from £800 a month to £2,000.

The MP for Mid Norfolk would have been receiving an annual salary of around £118,300.

As an MP, his salary is £86,584 – but he is free to take up a lucrative second job if free of the ministerial work.

Mortgage rates have spiralled as the Bank of England hike interest rates to curb inflation, while the Liz Truss’s disastrous stint as PM added a premium to mortgage woes.

In a Substack blog post last week, he wrote: “Why did I stand down?

“Because my mortgage rises this month from £800pcm to £2,000, which I simply couldn’t afford to pay on a Ministerial salary.

“That’s political economy 2.0.

“We’re in danger of making politics something only Hedge Fund Donors, young spin doctors and failed trade unionists can afford to do.”

Freeman also told The New Statesman on Monday his finances “are not what they were – at all”, having gone through “a very painful divorce” and with parents “who are both getting elderly”.

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Therese Coffey’s Rwanda Gaffe Has Become A Meme

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Therese Coffey’s Rwanda gaffe has already become the stuff of legend – inspiring a meme based on her “astonishment”.

The deputy PM under Liz Truss made a geographical blunder on Wednesday in the Commons when MPs were debating the Safety of Rwanda Bill.

The Tory backbencher said: “I have to say I’m somewhat astonished by the speech by the shadow home secretary, who can’t even get the name of the country right, talking about the Kigali government.

“Rwanda is a respected country that has recently been president of the Commonwealth.”

Kigali is, of course, the capital of Rwanda and the country’s largest city, and it is common practice to refer to a national government by talking about the capital of the country.

Coffey later (unconvincingly) tried to cover her tracks …

But the “keyboard snipers” had already got stuck in …

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Liz Truss Wants To Have Another Go At Delivering A Budget

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Former prime minister Liz Truss is to challenge Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt with her own alternative Budget.

Her proposal will be pitched as one that rails against “conventional thinking”, and will be presented to the government as an alternative to the chancellor’s plans.

The report outlining Truss’s suggestions will be released one week before Hunt delivers his autumn statement on 22 November.

Called the “Growth Budget”, her suggestions are expected to propose similar ideas to those she announced while in office, including tax cuts and changes to corporation tax, income tax and national insurance.

It is also expected to include ideas about how the “tourism tax” could be dropped by bringing back VAT-free shopping.

At the Conservative Party conference this month, Truss made a speech calling for tax cuts to “make Britain grow again”.

Truss told the conference that she wanted to see the Conservative Party become the “party of business again”, and for the government to stop “taxing and banning things” and instead “build things and make things.”

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Kwasi Kwarteng Doesn’t Think People Are Angry With Him For Crashing The Economy

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Kwasi Kwarteng has refused to apologise for the financial meltdown unleashed by his time in office alongside Liz Truss – saying “what was done was done”.

The former chancellor also suggested people were not angry about mortgage rates soaring as a result of his mini-budget – and that instead they say “you tried your best”.

On September 23, Kwarteng announced the biggest raft of tax cuts for half a century. The mini-budget triggered turbulence in the financial markets, sending the pound tumbling and forcing the Bank of England’s intervention.

Truss ended up resigning after only 44 days in office, with her economic measures swiftly ripped up by new chancellor Jeremy Hunt and her successor in No 10, Rishi Sunak.

“I’m not going to apologise,” he told Channel 4 News on Wednesday.

“I’ve said very clearly, you know, what was done was done, but I don’t believe that politicians are endlessly, you know, apologising for everything that has gone in the past. I’m looking forward.”

Asked whether he felt people’s anger about crippling mortgage rates, he said “no”.

He added: “I know the media will want to go to a world where people are being angry and outrage … but actually, what I found is that some people will come up to people and say, ‘I’m very angry, I’m very upset.’ You get that.

“I’m very struck, actually, by the fact that people are ‘you tried your best. We understand what you were trying to do. It was difficult.’”

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Liz Truss Attacks Rishi Sunak Over China U-Turn

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Liz Truss has condemned Rishi Sunak for U-turning on his previous decision to describe China as a “threat” to global security.

The former prime minister will hit out at her successor – and former Tory leadership rival – in a speech in Taiwan.

Sunak made clear his concern about China last July during his battle with Truss to succeed Boris Johnson in Downing Street.

In a tweet, Sunak said: “China and the Chinese Communist Party represent the largest threat to Britain and the world’s security and prosperity this century.”

He also pledged to shut down the UK’s 30 Confucius Institutes, which promote and teach Chinese culture.

But speaking in March – four months after taking over from Truss in Number 10 – Sunak struck a more conciliatory tone by refusing to say he still saw China as a threat.

He said: “I don’t think it’s kind of smart or sophisticated foreign policy to reduce our relationship with China – which after all is a country with one and a half billion people, the second biggest economy, and member of the UN security council – to just two words.”

In a speech in Taiwan, Truss will call on Sunak to stand by what he said about China last year.

She will say: “Last summer the now British prime minister described China as ‘the biggest long-term threat to Britain’ and said the Confucius Institutes should be closed. He was right and we need to see those policies enacted urgently.

“The UK’s integrated review needs to be amended to state clearly that China is a threat. Confucius Institutes should be closed down immediately.”

Truss, the UK’s shortest-serving PM, also took a swipe at Sunak when she said “there have been too many mixed messages” about China by western leaders.

“There can be no more ambiguity,” she added.

Elsewhere in her speech, Truss will call on the west to defend Taiwan in the face of Chinese aggression.

She will say: “We in the west have a collective responsibility not just to do the right thing by Taiwan, but also to hold the Chinese government to account for its actions.

“My visit this week is enabling me to communicate directly the solidarity that the British people have with the people of Taiwan.

“Taiwan really is a shining beacon in the Pacific. It’s an enduring rebuke to totalitarianism. It is an example of the power of free enterprise. It shows the importance of a free society for human happiness.

“We in the United Kingdom and the free world must do all we can to back you.”

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