It’s not macho to demand more money, Truss tells ministers in call for cost cuts
Chief Secretary to the Treasury backs ‘Trumpstyle’ reforms to remove ‘unnecessary’ red tape
MINISTERS demanding more funding for their departments are “not macho” and should instead focus on achieving “better value for money”, the Treasury’s second-in-command will warn this week.
In an apparent broadside against Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, who has been campaigning for increased spending on the Armed Forces, Liz Truss is expected to insist that it is a “tougher skill” to ensure existing budgets are spent more efficiently.
In a speech on Tuesday, Ms Truss, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, is also expected to call for “Trump-style” reforms to slash red tape restricting businesses and consumers.
Although she is not expected to name any minister, her warning over government spending is likely to escalate a growing battle between the Ministry of Defence and Treasury over the defence budget, which Mr Williamson wants to increase from its current 2 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.
In May Mr Williamson, who was promoted to the role last year, suggested in a speech that Britain could be forced to rely on its nuclear weapons if it fails to step up investment in conventional armed forces. Last week Theresa May came under pressure after it was claimed she had asked Mr Williamson to justify the UK being a “top-tier” military power, in a private meeting. Mr Williamson is backed by a sizeable cohort of Tory backbenchers campaigning for an increase in defence spending – a large number of whom are former military personnel.
Ms Truss, who along with Mr Hammond and Mrs May, held talks with Mr Williamson last week, is expected to publicly warn that the decision to provide an extra £20billion for the NHS was an “exceptional” case rather than a signal that the Treasury will now start offering generous budget increases following eight years of restraint.
“It is not macho to just demand more money,” she is expected to say in a speech at the London School of Economics.
The former justice secretary will add that it is “a tougher skill to demand better value for money and challenge the Blob in your departments,” according to extracts seen by this newspaper.
Her comments are also likely to be read closely by Damian Hinds, the Education Secretary, and Sajid Javid, the Home Secretary, who have publicly signalled that they will push for extra funding in the Government’s 2019 spending review, if not before. Ms Truss has previously described “the Blob” as individuals, among them lobbyists, unions and officials, with “a vested interest in more government”.
“They want a thicket of regulation to grow, as they are the ones who know how to hack through it,” she wrote earlier this year.
Last night, it was claimed that Mr Williamson had threatened to sweep Mrs May from power if she refused to commit an extra £20billion to the defence budget. He warned that Tory MPs would vote down the next budget if she did not adhere to his demands, essentially passing a motion of no confidence. Mr Williamson told service chiefs: “I made her – and I can break her,” the Mail on Sunday reported.
Donald Trump has made cutting red tape a key plank of his presidency. Within weeks of his election he announced that he had signed an executive order establishing task forces to “help scrap job-killing regulations”.
Ms Truss is expected to call for “Trump-style” reforms to simplify regulations, stating that the Government should be removing, rather than adding to, “unnecessary” red tape. The call will form part of a speech talking up the power of free markets to strengthen the economy in the long term.