Liz Truss insists she had the right ideas on growth as she champions the cause of tax cuts in her first major speech since being ousted as Prime Minister
Liz Truss is set to champion the cause of tax cuts to spur growth when she makes her first major appearance this weekend since leaving No 10.
The former prime minister is set to lay out the “political agenda” she says is needed to boost Britain’s economy in an article for a Sunday newspaper.
Although her term as prime minister ended in turmoil after she was forced to reverse almost all of her planned tax cuts, Ms Truss will reiterate the need for a smaller state.
“She will reflect on what has happened and the political program needed to deliver the growth everyone wants,” a source close to the former prime minister told the Daily Mail last night.
She is also expected to describe the “institutional obstacles” that she says have prevented her from implementing her growth agenda in the article.
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss is set to present the ‘political agenda’ she says is needed to boost the UK economy
Conservative colleagues who support his views formed the “Conservative Growth Group” to lobby the government over taxes and city deregulation ahead of the budget.
A WhatsApp group formed to support the ‘Liz for Leader’ push last year has been revived and has seen several Tories join recently, Sky News reported. A source said: “There’s a lot going on behind the scenes.”
The Conservative Growth Group was reportedly formed last month with around two dozen MPs – including the former prime minister.
Ms Truss has kept a low profile since being ousted in October, but her allies said after a period of ‘reflection’ she was ready to use her platform to share her views.
She ‘fully intends’ to stand again as an MP in her South West Norfolk constituency but does not expect to return to ministerial office, sources have said.
Instead, Ms Truss will use her influence around Westminster and the world to champion causes that matter to her. This month, she will fly to Japan to attend a conference on threats posed by China, with the former prime ministers of Australia and Belgium, Scott Morrison. and Guy Verhofstadt.
In a speech at the conference, Ms. Truss will share her concerns about China’s ambitions towards Taiwan.
Just before Christmas, she visited a gathering of center-right figures from around the world in Washington DC. It emerged that following a series of private meetings while she was across the pond, she told US politicians that she “remains committed to getting Britain out of the economic stagnation”.
According to US site Politico, Ms Truss also said she did not trust her successor Rishi Sunak to do the job.
It has been claimed that she admitted to ‘mistakes’ in the way she pushed her economic plans forward, but would not back down from her tax cut package during her trip to the United States.
Politico reported that Ms Truss told Kevin Hern, a member of the United States House of Representatives, that she wanted to create a body similar to the Republican Study Committee – an influential group in Washington – to “house all their ideas in a collective group in order to hold the current Prime Minister accountable,” according to Mr. Hern.
