After 13 tough years, Liz finally wins over the ‘Turnip Taliban’
LIZ Truss was given a boost last night by a former member of a group dubbed the ‘Turnip Taliban’ which once tried to oust her. Councillor Roy Brame was among local Tories who voted against Miss Truss becoming the candidate for the safe seat of South West Norfolk in 2009.
But the 67-year-old yesterday said he now concedes that she has been an ‘excellent MP for the area’ and he had voted against her because ‘she was not local’.
Traditionalist members of the local association were nicknamed the Turnip Taliban – due to their conservative views and the local agricultural produce – when they tried to deselect Miss Truss after her affair with married Conservative MP Mark Field.
Miss Truss narrowly survived and entered Parliament the following year after winning in the 2010 general election by a comfortable majority of more than 13,000 votes.
Mr Brame, who ran an electrical shop before his retirement, said: ‘I think she’s done a very good job. I voted against her being our MP because she was not local.
‘I don’t believe the party should put people in who are not local and that was my big issue with the whole thing. We had very good local candidates that could have been done instead of her being parachuted in.
‘But I have to say she’s been an excellent MP for the area.She moved into the area, she lives with us.’
While he has ‘not 100 per cent’ decided whether to back her or Rishi Sunak in the leadership race, he said she had run a ‘very good campaign’.
Last night, Miss Truss pledged to scrap Whitehall-imposed housing targets as she unveiled her planning blueprint.
The Tory leadership frontrunner said she will rip up the ‘red tape’ that is holding housing back, and instead work with local communities to identify sites ripe for redevelopment.
Under her proposals, all Whitehall housing targets would be abolished – although local councils would be free to set targets under a ‘Conservative “bottom-up” approach’.
Miss Truss would also reform the planning system by removing measures such as ‘nutrient neutrality’ – which stops developments if they would cause chemicals including phosphates and nitrates to seep into waterways.
She said: ‘Ultimately local people understand what’s best for their community. A new bottom-up approach will make sure they have full control over the planning processes in their towns and villages.
‘As a former councillor, I understand the frustration that comes when planning decisions are dictated to you from officials sitting in Whitehall, with little or no understanding of what is really needed.’
Miss Truss has also vowed to
‘She has been an excellent MP’
‘unlock’ home ownership by helping renters prove they are ready to take on a mortgage.
She would ‘break down barriers’ to support people keen to get on the housing ladder, allowing more tenants to demonstrate their ability to buy a home.
According to the Government, more than half of today’s renters could afford the monthly cost of a mortgage, but various constraints mean only 6 per cent could immediately access a typical first-time buyer mortgage.
The Truss campaign said this was because the majority of lenders did not currently take someone’s ability to pay a certain amount of rent as proof that they can afford to pay a higher mortgage, pricing them out of buying a home.
Through an upcoming government review of the market, Miss Truss would allow rent payments to be used as part of the affordability assessment for a mortgage.