Conservative leadership candidate Liz Truss said she would have liked Boris Johnson to continue as prime minister, although she vowed to break the economic plans she presided over.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Truss said his plans to cut the taxes he voted on as part of Johnson’s cabinet would “lower inflation”, despite concerns from some leading economists.
He said as prime minister “he would keep taxes low,” and when asked if asking for more than £ 30bn to fund tax cuts would increase or decrease inflation, Truss said: “My tax cuts they will reduce inflation. “
He added: “We have had a consensus of the Treasury, of economists, with the Financial Times, with other outlets, marketing a certain type of economic policy for 20 years. It has not given growth. People are struggling with the cost. of life, it is wrong to raise their taxes at a time when it is difficult for them to pay their bills. “
But when asked if he could appoint a Chancellor or Governor of the Bank of England or a prominent economist who agreed with his opinion, Truss could only appoint Patrick Minford of Cardiff University.
On his tax plans, which have been described as a gamble, he said, “It’s not a gamble, it’s an economic reality that the more taxes you have, the more growth drowns.”
He added: “What we are betting on is what we are doing right now, because the UK is currently projected to be heading into a recession. So we need to do something different to drive growth, to put money into it. in people’s pockets “.
The interview came the day after she and former Chancellor Rishi Sunak became the last two candidates in the race to become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom. In the vote between the deputies who selected the last two, Sunak maintained the lead with 137 votes. Truss, the Secretary of State who had followed Penny Mordaunt during previous rounds, got 113 votes, just above Mordaunt’s 105.
After paying tribute to Johnson, Truss said he had wanted him to continue as prime minister. “I think he did a fantastic job with the 2019 election and delivered Brexit and the vaccines. Unfortunately, we came to a position where he did not have the support of the parliamentary party.”
Truss also made it clear she was “fully committed” to fulfilling the government’s promise to increase spending on the NHS. When asked if he would still commit to proposals to increase healthcare funding if his planned tax cuts did not increase growth, Truss said: “I am fully committed to this spending by the NHS, with hospitals, with the doctors”.
Robert Jenrick also appeared on the Today program, in support of Sunak’s leadership campaign. When asked why he supported Sunak, Jenrick said, “No one has discussed the fact that Rishi is the most capable candidate to be our next prime minister.”
He added that he believed Sunak was the candidate “with the real vision and ability to lead the country forward.” Commenting on Truss’s promises of tax cuts, Jenrick said, “It’s the antithesis of Thatcherism to make tax promises without funding just to win a leadership contest.”
Appearing on Sky News, Theresa Villiers, another Sunak supporter, said she was the best candidate “to get us through this inflation crisis.” “I think Rishi has shown that he has the trajectory and that he has the plan to do it.”
The new British Prime Minister will be announced on September 5 after members of the Conservative Party vote on the two candidates chosen by MPs.
Although Truss ranks second among MPs, she is the favorite among members of the Conservative party, according to polls, with Sunak described as the disadvantaged. Some 160,000 paying members, half over 60, 97% white and a large proportion men and from the south of England, will have the opportunity to vote next month.
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