Truss: I won’t let anyone talk this great country down
++ Frontrunner’s rallying cry ++ She vows energy plan within first week and mulls freeze on bills ++ Support package could be worth £100billion
LIZ Truss said last night it was time to stop talking Britain down as she vowed the country will come out of the cost of living crisis even stronger than before.
The Foreign Secretary, who is widely expected to be announced as the new Tory leader this afternoon, promised to unveil a plan to help millions of families with soaring energy bills in her first week as prime minister.
It is understood the mammoth package of support could be worth more than £100 billion – putting it on the same scale as the Covid furlough scheme.
Among the options being considered is a freeze on energy bills for both families and businesses.
Miss Truss last night pledged ‘rapid action’ to get households through the winter and tackle the ‘root cause’ of the crisis.
‘I have a bold plan to see Britain through difficult times and get us out the other side stronger,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘If I am elected prime minister, I will work tirelessly to deliver for the people of Britain.’
She insisted she will ‘not let anyone talk this great country down’.
‘I will do everything in my power to make sure everyone, no matter where they are from, has the opportunity to go as far as their talent and hard work takes them.’
At 12.30pm today, bookies’ favourite Miss Truss will find out if she has defeated Rishi Sunak when the result of the leadership contest is revealed in Westminster.
Miss Truss yesterday promised to act ‘immediately’ to tackle the energy crisis, but would not offer any details of the support struggling households can expect.
The Foreign Secretary, who denied she was being ‘coy’, said she wanted to reassure voters that help is coming but indicated they would need to wait for a few days to find out exactly what the support might look like.
In an interview with the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Miss Truss said: ‘I will act if I’m elected as prime minister.
I will act immediately on bills and on energy supply because I think those two things go hand in hand.’
Miss Truss appeared to brush off dire warnings about the future as she insisted the country had ‘been through worse’.
Miss Kuenssberg also grilled Miss Truss on the Bank of England, the NHS, and comparisons with Margaret Thatcher. Here, we look at the views of the politician who is expected to become the country’s 56th prime minister tomorrow.
WE’RE NOT FACING ARMAGEDDON
Miss Truss admitted she faced a ‘difficult’ in-tray packed with tricky issues if she wins the keys to No 10, but warned against predictions of an ‘Armageddon scenario’.
She said: ‘I think we face some very, very serious challenges. We have the appalling war in Ukraine, perpetrated by Putin. We still have the aftermath of Covid, which was a massive economic shock, and we’re also facing a severe energy crisis as well. I’m under no illusions about how difficult it is.
‘But as a country we have faced tough challenges before, and we’ve got through those challenges, and
I’m absolutely confident we have the wherewithal, the ability, to be able to deal with these challenges.
‘ I don’t think, you know, we should be predicting a sort of Armageddon scenario. I think we are in a good position to deal with what are very tough challenges.’
I’LL TACKLE ENERGY CRISIS IMMEDIATELY
Families and businesses will be told what help they can expect with their energy bills during Miss Truss’s first week as prime minister, she promised yesterday. Wider plans for the economy, including tax cuts, will follow in a Budget or financial statement within the first month.
Miss Truss said she understood ‘ people are worried’ and she wanted to ‘reassure’ them, but she declined to give details.
‘I will act if elected as prime minister, within one week,’ she said. ‘What I can’t do... is tell you exactly what that announcement would be... Before you have been elected
as prime minister you don’t have all the wherewithal to get the things done. So, this is why it will take a week to sort out, you know, the precise plans and make sure we are able announce them.
‘But what I want to be very clear about with the public is I understand that this is a huge problem. And I understand people are worried and I want to reassure people that I am absolutely determined to sort out this issue.’
Miss Truss declined to say if she would adopt Labour’s plan to freeze the energy price cap.
REVERSING NATIONAL INSURANCE HIKE ‘FAIR’
Miss Truss insisted her plan to reverse the rise in national insurance was ‘fair’ despite it benefiting most higher earners. The Foreign Secretary said ‘growing the economy benefits everybody’ and it is ‘ wrong’ to look at everything through the ‘lens of redistribution’.
Miss Kuenssberg put it to her that reversing the national insurance rise, which was introduced in April, would see the poorest stand to gain about £7 while the wealthiest could gain nearly £2,000.
Asked if that was fair, Miss Truss said: ‘The people at the top of the income distribution pay more tax. So inevitably when you cut taxes you tend to benefit people who are more likely to pay tax. Of course, there are some people who don’t pay tax at all.
‘But to look at everything through the lens of redistribution, I believe, is wrong because what I am about is about growing the econ
omy. And growing the economy benefits everybody.’
She added: ‘So far, the economic debate for the past 20 years has been dominated by discussions about distribution, and what’s happened is we have had relatively low growth.’
Challenged again on whether the cut would be fair, Miss Truss said: ‘Yes, it is fair. We promised in our manifesto that we would not raise national insurance.
‘I opposed the decision to raise it in Cabinet because it was the wrong decision.’
Miss Truss said she did not resign over the initial policy to increase national insurance because she preferred to stay ‘and fight my corner, because I’m not somebody who quits – I’m somebody who gets the job done’.
BANK OF ENGLAND WILL REMAIN INDEPENDENT
The Bank of england will retain its interest rate-setting powers, even though Miss Truss has promised to look at other systems around the world when assessing whether it has the correct mandate.
She said yesterday: ‘I’m a great believer in the independence of the Bank of england. We need to allow the Bank of england to do that job.
‘I think it was about three decades ago we stopped politicians making decisions about interest rates. So, I’m not going to start saying what interest rates the Bank of england should be.’
Pushed again, she said: ‘I think it would be completely wrong for me as a politician to say what I wanted interest rates to be and to countermand the Bank of england.’
HUGE NHS FUNDING IS SUSTAINABLE
Miss Truss said she was committed to the current NhS budget and her priorities would be primary care and GP appointments.
When Miss Kuenssberg said that by the next election the NhS will make up more than 40 per cent of day-to-day spending and asked if that can continue, she said: ‘I’m completely committed to the budget we’ve set out for the National health Service, but we do face real issues on the ground.
‘difficulty in getting GP appointments, difficulty in getting an NhS dentist, waiting times for ambulances are far too long. So, what I would do is appoint a health secretary who can tackle those issues.’
Asked if the funding was sustainable, Miss Truss said: ‘Well, I think it is a priority for the public and it’s a priority for me to make sure we’re delivering for people.’
Pushed on whether people will get the care they are waiting for, she added: ‘Yes. And what I would ask my health secretary to do is set out a clear plan of how we’re going to achieve that. But I think one of my key priorities would be primary care and GP appointments.’
WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET
rejecting suggestions of a need for a major shift in presentation from leadership candidate to prime minister, Miss Truss described her style as a politician as ‘ what you see is what you get’. The leadership contender has faced repeated accusations that she is attempting to copy Margaret Thatcher.
Asked about how she will avoid the same fate as Boris Johnson, Miss Truss said: ‘I will be clear with the public about what we are going to face and there will be challenging circumstances, there’ll be difficult decisions to be made.
‘Not all of those decisions will be popular but I will be honest about what we will have to do.
‘I’m also somebody who is positive. And I’m clear that we can deal with these issues, that Britain has been through worse, frankly, in the past. We have the capability, we have the attitude, and we have the spirit to deal with the challenges.’