Truss vows to end ‘Stalinist’ housing targets
LIZ TRUSS has said she will put an end to ‘Whitehallinspired Stalinist housing targets’ if she becomes
Prime Minister.
The Tory leadership hopeful said she would replace
‘Labour approaches’ with tax cuts and deregulation, encouraging developers to build new homes south of the Border.
The Foreign Secretary also pledged to deliver the ‘biggest change in our economic policy for 30 years’ to tackle slow growth and soaring inflation.
Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Ms Truss said: ‘The best way to generate economic growth is bottomup, by creating those incentives for investment through the tax system, simplifying regulations.’ She added: ‘I want to abolish the top-down Whitehall-inspired Stalinist housing targets. I think that’s the wrong way to generate economic growth.’
She said she would amend the Levelling Up Bill to replace centralised targets with tax cuts and reduced red tape in ‘opportunity zones’, to make it easier and quicker for developers to build on brownfield land ‘ to get our economy moving’.
Ms Truss, who before entering politics worked for energy giant Shell, also said she would lift the fracking ban in England and Wales. She said: ‘On the subject of fracking, I think it depends on the local area, and whether there is support in the local area for it. But I certainly think we need to be doing all we can to lower the cost of energy for consumers.’
The former Chief
Secretary to the Treasury also said business rates ‘hamper growth’ and that she would ‘look again’ at the Bank of England’s mandate, to ‘make sure it is tough enough on inflation’.
Allies of Ms Truss are calling on the Conservative Right to unite behind her, to guarantee her slot in the final two leadership candidates who will be put to Tory party members. However, Ms Truss is competing for the Right of the party with Kemi Badenoch, the former Equalities Minister.
The Foreign Secretary told the Telegraph her rivals were ‘incredibly talented politicians’ and that she was a believer in ‘having all the players on the pitch’.