AT last, Tories can begin the fightback

THERE has been a distinct sense of the caged animal about Liz truss in recent days, pacing restlessly around her enclosure desperate for the lock to be broken.

this tory leadership election has at times seemed interminable, with relentless hustings, media appearances and interviews saying much the same things.

today, thankfully, it’s over. the winner can finally escape captivity and start marshalling the government response to the myriad problems this country faces.

If the bookies are correct, that person will be Miss truss. and she pledged yesterday to hit the ground running.

a detailed plan to mitigate soaring energy bills within a week, an emergency budget delivering £30billion in tax cuts within a month. It was high-octane stuff.

and though the poorest will require most support, she stressed that tax cuts should not be seen just ‘through the prism of redistribution’. they are for the benefit of all and intended to stimulate growth, she said. and with growth comes prosperity. as John F Kennedy famously put it, a rising tide lifts all boats.

this was once a fundamental principle of Conservatism but it has been obscured by the Covid emergency, during which massive state handouts became the norm. this has led to borrowing at levels never before seen in peacetime and took the national debt to nearly £2.4trillion – money that will have to be repaid by future generations.

Miss truss is right to stress that it is only through growth and improved productivity that this mountain of debt will be reduced and the public finances put back on track.

We cannot and should not expect state handouts to cover every misfortune.

though the cost of living crisis is the most pressing issue, it’s by no means the only one. a wave of politically motivated strikes,

NhS in meltdown, war in Europe – the list is long and daunting.

But we are not, as the professional catastrophists love to present it, approaching some kind of armageddon. there is nothing we haven’t faced and come through in the past.

Miss truss promised to be honest with the country about the scale of the problems ahead. But like Boris Johnson, she has faith that, together, we will overcome them.

assuming she does become PM, one area where she is blessed is in her main opponent. Devoid of credible ideas and dogged by bitter internal feuding, Sir Keir Starmer is fighting a losing battle for relevance. his weakness is Miss truss’s opportunity.

through her vision, energy and initiative, the tory fightback can begin today.