“Do you have an apology for the people whose mortgages went up so much when you were in office?”
Former Prime Minister Liz Truss has refused to apologise for her disastrous economic policies which led to an increase in mortgage costs, before she was booted out of office.
Truss has been promoting her new book ‘Ten Years to Save the West’ during a round of media appearances, in which she has shown little humility, blaming everyone else for her economic policies which resulted in financial turmoil, a collapse in the pound and the Bank of England having to step in to save pension funds.
Appearing on Sky News, Economics Editor Ed Conway asked: “Do you have an apology for the people whose mortgages went up so much when you were in office?”
Truss replied: “Well, I question the premise of what you’re asking me, Ed. Because the fact is, mortgage rates have gone up across the world.
“The issues that I faced in office were issues of not being able to deliver the agenda I’d set out, because of a deep resistance within the British economic establishment.”
Borrowing from the Trump playbook, Truss has blamed the ‘deep state’ for her failures in office.
She added: “I think it’s wrong to suggest that I’m responsible for British people paying higher mortgages. That is something that has happened in every country in the free world.”
Conway replied: “So even though mortgage rates went up – [and] you can see they went up very sharply during your time in office?”
Truss said: “They have gone up everywhere. There was a global rise in mortgage rates, and I think it’s disingenuous to say that was the result of policies I’ve pursued.”
Truss became Britain’s shortest-serving prime minister after her £45m of unfunded tax cuts, which were designed to benefit the well-off, resulted in market chaos.
Although Truss thinks she can’t be blamed, economists as well as even members of her own party have slammed her for being behind the collapse in the pound and a rise in mortgage bills.
Last year, when Truss once more blamed the ‘economic establishment’ for her downfall, Gavin Barwell, a Conservative who was chief of staff to ex-Prime Minister Theresa May, tweeted at Truss: “You were brought down because in a matter of weeks you lost the confidence of the financial markets, the electorate and your own MPs. During a profound cost of living crisis, you thought it was a priority to cut tax for the richest people in the country.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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