Despite U-turns that have left her fighting to maintain her position of power, Liz Truss has claimed she would lead the Tories into the next general election.
After the new chancellor Jeremy Hunt scrapped practically all of the tax-cutting proposals the prime minister had made to calm the turbulence in the market, she apologized for her errors.
She continued by saying that although her month-old premiership “hasn’t been faultless,” she has “corrected” flaws.
She added that staying on track would have been “irresponsible.”
She stated in an interview with the BBC that she was still committed to accelerating UK economic growth, but that it will now take more time to do so.
“I remain committed to the vision, but we will have to deliver that in a different way,” she said.
It follows a dramatic day at Westminster, during which Mr. Hunt announced the cancellation of almost all of the tax cuts proposed during the mini-budget last month.
Investors have praised the decision, but only weeks into her tenure at No. 10, Ms. Truss’s economic vision is in ruins.
Ms. Truss claimed in her interview that she had admitted to going “too far, too fast” and that she wanted to “say sorry for the mistakes that have been committed.”
She continued by saying that while maintaining economic stability was still the “priority,” she was still committed to a “low tax, high growth economy”.
“Yes, I’ve made a mistake. I’ve rectified that mistake. And now we need to deliver for the people,” the politician should admit.
It would have been wholly irresponsible of me to act otherwise than in the country’s best interest.
The PM’s apologies “after weeks of blaming everyone else,” according to Shadow Treasury Minister James Murray, will not “reverse the damage” brought on by her mini-budget.
The reality that this catastrophe was created in Downing Street but was paid for by working people, he continued, cannot be changed by expressions of regret.
Ms. Truss previously observed Mr. Hunt give a Commons statement to explain to MPs why Kwasi Kwarteng’s economic policy from last month was being scrapped.
Prior to an economic statement on October 31, when he would provide further information on a strategy to lower the UK’s debt burden, the chancellor warned that “decisions of eye-watering difficulty” on tax and spending remain.
Further windfall taxes on energy corporations, which Ms Truss regularly decried during her Tory leadership campaign, as well as adjustments to the pension triple lock, he claimed, could not be ruled out.
Prior to Mr. Hunt’s remarks, Ms. Truss rejected a Labour request for her to brief MPs on the U-turns; Commons leader Penny Mordaunt claimed she was “detained on vital work.”
While one of his MPs joked that the PM had been “cowering beneath a desk,” Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer charged that she had left a “utter vacuum” in administration.
Of the £45 billion in tax cuts proposed at the mini-budget last month, £32 billion have already been abandoned, including proposals to lower the basic income tax rate from 20 to 19 cents starting in April.
