She’s back! One year on from the mini-Budget, Liz Truss arrived at the Institute for Government, flashing grins and firing off one-liners. The speech was of the pure Trussite vintage – little humility but much recrimination, with fingers labelled at the Usual Suspects of ‘corporatist social democracy’. Then it was on to the Q&A – the first time she has faced questions in such a format since departing No. 10. And Truss certainly did not disappoint, giving both barrels to her myriad of critics.
What did she think about Mark Carney and his claims about ‘Argentina on the Channel?’ A snort and then a dismissal of the ‘finger-pointing’ from those who ‘don’t want to admit their culpability or the culpability of their central banking associates in this’.
What about the BBC, whose economics editor Faisal Islam was quick up with the mike? ‘I don’t think organisations like the BBC did a brilliant job of actually analysing the LDI crisis’ and ‘If ever there’s an official from one of the organisations they get a much easier ride in a BBC interview than a politician would so I will wait to see that Faisal.’
How about the OBR? Their ‘sheer level of power’ was demonstrated, according to Truss, by news ‘of a £70 billion hole that, in essence, forced us to reverse the decision on corporation tax.’
All this after she attacked Sunak’s government for spending £35billion more than she would have done had she remained in post longer than 49 days. It might be easier to say who isn’t in the anti-growth coalition these days than who is…
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