Liz Truss has officially launched her leadership campaign in a bid to become the new PM.
Truss, who is currently in third place in the contest, pledged a “positive agenda”, saying she would “hit the ground running” from day one and is the only candidate with the experience to do so.
As international trade secretary, she said, she delivered trade deals when told that it would be impossible.
Truss, like many of her rival candidates, refused to criticise those she is vying for the leadership with. However, she faced many questions about Penny Mordaunt, who is currently in second place in the race; in particular whether she should drop-out and support Mordaunt instead, an idea which she quickly objected.
She was also asked the question being directed to all members of Johnson’s cabinet: How can you be a credible agent of change when you stuck with Boris Johnson? In response, Truss claimed to have spoken out in cabinet about the national insurance increase. She also added how she is a loyal person and accepted collective responsibility.
There was heavy focus on rebuilding the economy, something which Truss said is her priority. She added that the successful way to do this is to pay back covid debts over a long period of time and accept this was a “once in a hundred year” crisis that can only be fixed slowly.
She also said she would offer tax breaks to parents, people taking time off work to care for elderly parents and would strive to have lower tax zones in parts of the UK.
In a few quick-fire questions, Truss said she “fully supports” the Rwanda scheme and that she worked very closely with Priti Patel to make this happen. She also said she plans to raise defence spending to 3% of national GDP within the decade.
“What the British people are crying out for is a modern and united Conservative party.”
“You can trust me,” she said.
