The Prime Minister has reflected on a “tough” start to her premiership, admitting things have been “difficult” in Downing Street as her tax-cutting agenda has crumbled around her.
Liz Truss is facing questions over her credibility in the top job following a raft of U-turns culminating in the near-extinction of her economic plans. The Prime Minister acknowledged she has made “mistakes”, adding that things have not been “perfect”. But according to experts at the UK In a Changing Europe, her Brexit plans could still see the country diverging more from EU regulations than Boris Johnson’s proposals could ever promise.
In his analysis, Mr Reland wrote: “Demonstrating sovereignty – the UK having control of its own affairs through new ‘bespoke’ regimes – was the overriding imperative of Johnson’s approach to divergence, even if under the bonnet things stayed largely the same.
“There could be many reasons for this approach, ranging from COVID-19 disruption, to Johnson’s propensity for boosterism and the fact that radical reform takes a lot of time and effort.
“Yet our latest tracker suggests that the arrival of Liz Truss as Prime Minister heralds a new attitude to divergence.
“If Johnson’s primary imperative was sovereignty, for Truss it is unambiguously all about growth – and the two prerequisites she sees for this are lower taxes and wide-scale deregulation.”
He continued: “An early example of this vision in action is the decision to remove the cap on bankers’ bonuses, with the aim of boosting the international competitiveness of the City (one of the few Kwarteng-era announcements which new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has not undone). There is also speculation about giving ministers powers to question Bank of England decisions, and a merger of the other financial regulators to make them more explicitly pro-growth.”
“It’s been a difficult time and I think we did an interview before I got the job and I said it was going to be tough because of the circumstances we’re facing as a country.”
Asked if her short tenure to date had been harder than she could have imagined, Ms Truss said she had expected things to be “tough” – and that had certainly come to pass.
She added that it had been “painful” to sack her long-term friend and former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in the wake of the mini-budget market chaos, but insisted her decision was the right one.
“It was right that we changed policy,” she said.
“It’s right that we have a new Chancellor. And now what I’m determined to do is make sure that works.”
Presented with some bleak briefings from her own MPs, Ms Truss said she did not think people would want to hear about “internal discussions in the Conservative Party”.
Labour opened up a 36-point poll lead on Monday, the largest for any party since October 1997, according to a survey of 2,000 eligible voters by Redfield and Wilton Strategies.
Asked what she would say to colleagues convinced the party is going to lose because of her actions, Ms Truss said they should be “focusing on the people of the United Kingdom and how we deliver for them”.
“We were elected on the Conservative manifesto in 2019 to level up our country, to provide more opportunities, to deliver for our public services,” she said.
“That’s what I’m focused on doing. And I don’t think people want to hear about internal discussions in the Conservative Party.
“I think people recognise that we are facing a very serious situation internationally, that there are serious economic headwinds, and they want a Government and a Conservative Party that deals with that.”
