Liz Truss: I was never given an opportunity to decrease tax cuts

• She argues that, with the benefit of hindsight, she would have behaved differently while serving as premier.
• In her own words, Liz Truss describes and defends her disastrous term in government.
• Liz Truss is still a member of parliament representing South West Norfolk.

According to Liz Truss, her party never gave her a “realistic opportunity” to carry out their radical tax-cutting ambition.

Ms. Truss defended her measures to spur economic growth in a 4,000-word column published in the Sunday Telegraph, claiming “the left-wing economic elite” was to blame for their failure.

They are the ex-first PM’s remarks about her resignation that have been made in public.

However, she acknowledged that she was not “blameless” in the collapse of the mini-budget. Grant Shapps, the business secretary, who served as Ms. Truss’ home secretary during her final week in power, declared that she “obviously” had not approached taxation in the proper manner.

She was right to want lower taxes in the long run, he added, but inflation should have been reduced first. He was speaking on private news channel One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show.

When she and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a £45 billion package of tax cuts, the markets went into meltdown and the pound hit a record low, forcing Ms. Truss to resign.

She served as prime minister for for 49 days, making her the shortest-serving leader in British history.

Despite the fact that her experience in the fall of last year was “bruising for me personally,” Ms. Truss stated that she thought her policies would have, in the medium term, enhanced growth and reduced debt.

She claimed that long-brewing events were given a “scapegoat” in the form of the administration.

“Frankly, we were also pushing water uphill. Large parts of the media and the wider public sphere had become unfamiliar with key arguments about tax and economic policy and over time sentiment had shifted leftward,” she wrote.

“Regrettably, the government became a useful scapegoat for problems that had been brewing over a number of months.”

She said that she had underestimated the degree of opposition to her ideas, especially those to eliminate the 45p top rate of income tax that she would encounter.

“I assumed upon entering Downing Street that my mandate would be respected and accepted. How wrong I was. While I anticipated resistance to my program from the system, I underestimated the extent of it,” she writes.

Ten days after their announcement, Mr. Kwarteng withdrew the 45p income tax ideas, telling the BBC that they were “a tremendous distraction from what was a solid package.”

A little over a week later, Ms. Truss fired Mr. Kwarteng, a decision she described as “very disturbing.”

“Kwasi Kwarteng, a unique thinker and a strong supporter of Conservative values, had put together a courageous package that was truly transformative. However, it was now obvious that the policy agenda could not be maintained, and my top concern had to be preventing a severe UK collapse “She composed.

She argues that, with the benefit of hindsight, she would have behaved differently while serving as premier, but she still supports her ideas for development.

“I have lost track of how many people have written to me or approached me since leaving Downing Street to say that they believe my diagnosis of the problems causing our country’s economic lethargy was correct and that they shared my enthusiasm for the solutions I was proposing,” she said.

We now have a version of events from the UK Prime Minister with the shortest tenure in history after 100 days of “soul searching.”

In her own words, Liz Truss describes and defends her disastrous term in government.

She makes an extended effort to defend her position and give an explanation for her conduct. Reflection and remorse are present, but not the apology that many might anticipate.

As Liz Truss builds a case for what might have been, her perception that practically everything was against her permeates this 4,000 word essay.

She claims that the system, officials, and Conservative MPs all contributed to preventing her from reaching her goal of promoting economic development through tax cuts and deregulation.

There are heart-stopping reminders of how high the stakes were as her actions sent shockwaves through the economy: Kwasi Kwarteng had to step down to prevent “a severe breakdown for the UK,” and officials issued “the starkest of warnings” that the nation could have to default on its debt.

Liz Truss contends that many people still support her goals with excitement despite her failure.

The former chairman of the Conservative Party under Ms. Truss, Sir Jake Berry, stated that while he agreed with her “diagnosis” of the issues affecting the UK economy, “not necessarily the remedy,” he did not.

He went on to claim that Ms. Truss had been “wrong” in her assertion that the Conservatives had failed to make the case for reduced taxes in his remarks to Laura Kuenssberg.

Ms. Truss’s policies, according to shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, “made working people pay the price.”

After 13 years of low growth, squeezed wages, and higher taxes under the Tories, only Labour offers the leadership and ideas to fix our economy and get it growing. “The Conservatives crashed the economy, sank the pound, put pensions in danger, and made working people pay the price through higher mortgages for years to come.

Despite leaving her position as prime minister, Liz Truss is still a member of parliament representing South West Norfolk.

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