My bold plan to build an Aspiration Nation
■ Truss vows ‘action every day’ to get UK working again ■ Brutal cull of Team Rishi as she appoints the loyalists ■ Energy plan tomorrow will freeze bills at £2,500 ■ NHS reforms to ensure everyone can get to see GP
LIZ Truss last night vowed to ‘get Britain working again’ as she pledged to freeze energy bills, boost the economy and fix the creaking NHS.
Speaking in Downing Street between bursts of heavy rain, the new Prime Minister promised ‘action this day and every day’ to ‘tackle the issues that are holding Britain back’.
Miss Truss said the economy faced ‘ severe global headwinds’ caused by the Ukraine war and the fallout from Covid.
But she promised a ‘ bold plan’ to protect families and businesses from soaring energy prices, boost Britain’s anaemic growth and create an ‘aspiration nation’.
‘I am confident that together we can ride out the storm,’ she said.
On a dramatic day in which Boris Johnson departed No10 for the final time, Miss Truss stamped her authority on the new Government with a brutal cull of Rishi Sunak’s supporters, ignoring pleas to bring the Tory party together with a unity Cabinet.
Dominic Raab, Grant Shapps, Steve Barclay and George Eustice were all sacked face-toface by Miss Truss within an hour of her arrival in Downing Street. In their place she appointed the most diverse Cabinet in history, with no white men in any of the great offices of state. Miss Truss’s close ally Therese Coffey was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Health Secretary, signalling a renewed focus on the
NHS.
Former Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng was installed as Chancellor, while Suella Braverman replaced Priti Patel as Home Secretary and James Cleverly was promoted to Foreign Secretary.
Miss Truss set out three early priorities, saying she would focus on growing the economy, dealing with energy bills and reforming the NHS to ensure people can get a doctor’s appointment.
She said she would announce plans this week to shield households and businesses from energy bills. Ministers are working on a plan to freeze bills until 2024 at an average of around £2,500.
The scheme, which could cost well over £100billion, will be set out in detail tomorrow.
But Government sources said it would be funded by ‘general taxation’ rather than added to future bills. In the early stages of the lead ership campaign, Miss Truss was resistant to the idea of further universal ‘handouts’. But sources said the emerging scale of the crisis made action essential.
A Government source said: ‘We are in an emergency and it requires an emergency response.’ On a day of political drama:
■ Boris Johnson bowed out of No10 with an appeal for unity – but hinted he had not ruled out a possible return;
■ US President Joe Biden congratulated Miss Truss in a phone call last night in which they also discussed the importance of protecting the Good Friday Agreement;
■ Miss Coffey set out a new ‘ABCD’ of priorities for the NHS and social care, saying that ambulances, backlogs, care and doctors would be her initial focus;
■ Miss Truss said Mr Johnson would go down in history as a ‘hugely consequential prime minister’ for getting Brexit done, steering Britain through the pandemic and standing up to Vladimir Putin;
■ Sources said Miss Truss was preto end the ban on fracking as soon as tomorrow as part of plans to boost the UK’s domestic energy supplies;
■ The new PM prepared for her first Commons clash with Sir Keir Starmer at Prime Minister’s Questions at lunchtime today;
■ Tory MP Johnny Mercer hinted he may quit politics after being sacked as veterans minister. His wife furiously branded Miss Truss an ‘imbecile’ on Twitter;
■ Mr Kwarteng summoned bank bosses for an emergency summit today to help reassure the markets that the government’s plans are affordable;
■ Wendy Morton was appointed as the Tories’ first female chief whip to stem the sleaze scandals that dogged Mr Johnson’s government;
■ Miss Truss appointed ex-Taxpayers’ Alliance director Matthew Sinclair as her chief economic adviser.
Yesterday’s handover of power was conducted at Balmoral rather than at Buckingham Palace because of concerns about the Queen’s health. The change of routine resulted in the process being more drawn out, with both Boris Johnson and his successor having to make the 1,000-mile round trip.
Bad weather meant Miss Truss’s flight had to circle Aberdeen airport for more than 20 minutes before it could land.
Torrential rain in Downing Street then almost derailed the new Prime Minister’s speech, with aides activating contingency plans for it to be delivered indoors.
But the rain eased off minutes before she arrived, allowing her to deliver her speech to waiting cameras in the street before posing in front of the famous black door with husband Hugh.
In a no-nonsense speech, Miss Truss said: ‘ We shouldn’t be daunted by the challenges we face. ‘As strong as the storm may be I know that the British people are stronger. Our country was built by people who get things done.
‘We have huge reserves of talent, of energy and determination. I am confident that together we can ride out the storm. We can rebuild our economy and we can become the modern brilliant Britain that I know we can be.
‘This is our vital mission – to ensure opportunity and prosperity for all people and future generations. I am determined to deliver.’
Miss Truss will set out her plans for tackling the energy crisis tomorrow. As well as an energy bills freeze for households, ministers are finalising plans for a support package for businesses which could last six months and cost £40billion.
Simon Clarke, who was appointed Levelling Up Secretary, declined to comment on the details of the energy package but said: ‘It will be a major moment, I think, in terms of drawing a line under the sense of uncertainty which undoubtedly is present in the country at this time.’
Mr Kwarteng will then use an emergency Budget later this month to set out the new Government’s plans for boosting growth, including reversing the controversial rise in national insurance and scrapping a planned hike in corporation tax. Last night, President Volodymyr Zelensky invited Miss
‘Severe global headwinds’
‘Opportunity and prosperity’
Truss to Ukraine after becoming the first foreign leader to call the new Prime Minister.
He wrote online: ‘[I] thanked [the] British people for the major defence and economic aid for Ukraine. It’s important that Britain is ready to further strengthen it. Attention was paid to security guarantees.’ The PM is expected to not activate the emergency Article 16 override provisions in the Northern Ireland Protocol in the coming weeks, the Financial Times reported. Article 16 allows either side to take unilateral action if it deems that the post-Brexit agreement is having a strongly negative impact on their interests.