Ex-PM Liz Truss Admits Mistake in Pound-Crashing Mini Budget
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss has acknowledged that she made a mistake by rushing her pound-crashing mini budget. Speaking in her first major speech since leaving No10, Truss compared her tax-slashing bonanza to "slaughtering a pig".
"I Confess to That"
Truss admitted that she tried to do too much too quickly with her mini budget. She said, "I didn't just try to fatten the pig on market day. I tried to rear the pig, fatten the pig, and slaughter the pig on market day. I confess to that."
Ex-PM Blames "Anti-Growth Coalition"
Truss ultimately blamed the "political and economic establishment" for the catastrophic failure of her mini-budget. She argued that members of the "anti-growth coalition" within the civil service, financial institutions, and Tory Party over-reacted to the package of £45bn of tax cuts, causing the market to crash.
"Forced" into a "Counterproductive" U-Turn
Truss claimed that she felt pressured into making a "counterproductive" U-turn on her tax plans. She said, "There was pressure on me and the Government to reverse our decisions on taxes – and I believe that reversal was counterproductive. I believe that raising corporation tax to 25% was the wrong decision, but I was essentially forced to do that on pains of a market meltdown."
Failed Mini-Budget Would Have Made a "Marginal Difference"
The ex-PM argued that her doomed mini-budget would have only made a "marginal difference" to the national deficit. She criticized the BBC for failing to communicate the policies and aims of her economic plan, which caused its fallout to intensify. Truss said, "What they were about was showing a new direction for Britain."
"Institutional Bureaucracy" Hindered Transformation
During her 49-day stint in No10, Truss argued that "institutional bureaucracy" held back ministers from transforming Britain into a high-growth, low-tax state. She believed that the problem lay in the system rather than the people. Truss added, "I didn't find a massive level of support, frankly, from those institutions."
