Liz Truss has called on the government to axe taxes, cut bills and build homes in order to grow the British economy.
Speaking at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, the former Prime Minister gave a rousing speech to a packed audience arguing that the government must cut taxes, just an hour before Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s speech.
It comes after Hunt told the BBC that taxes would not fall this year. Last month, he also warned LBC that it would be “virtually impossible” to bring taxes down before the Autumn budget in November.
Truss, who launched the Growth Commission think tank in July, was supported by her fellow Conservative Growth Group MPs, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Dame Priti Patel and Ranil Jayawardena in the Trafford room at the Midland Hotel.
The former PM argued that the UK should “unleash the gas it is sitting on” in order to cut the cost of energy for the average household, saying that British energy bills are on average double the price of American bills. She also called for the government to build 500,000 homes per year to address the housing crisis. “Let’s make Britain grow again,” she said as she recommended cutting corporation tax to 19 per cent.
Less than an hour after this rebellious fringe event, the Chancellor took centre stage to announce that the Living Wage will increase from £10.42 to £11 from next April. Hunt also said that the Tories would overhaul the way benefits are accessed while halving inflation remains the top priority.
Just before Hunt spoke, Transport Secretary Mark Harper used his own conference speech to blast Sadiq Khan’s expansion of Ulez but was conspicuously silent on HS2. Despite new reports that Sunak is set to confirm the scrapping of the Manchester line at the conference as early as tomorrow, it was clear that Harper wouldn’t broach the subject to his Manchester audience. On Sunday night at an event at Tory conference, Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham reiterated his point that scrapping the Manchester HS2 route would be treating those in the North as “second-class citizens.”
Truss has undermined Jeremy Hunt with her pre-emptive rebellious speech and, more importantly, her Conservative Growth Group now has over 60 MPs in its ranks who all staunchly advocate tax cuts. A 60 MP rebellion to an underwhelming Autumn budget could be lethal. As one Westminster insider quipped to the Hound: “How can you win a war if you can’t rally your troops?”
Write to us with your comments to be considered for publication at letters@reaction.life
