Jornal Do Brasilia - UK's Truss admits to 'mistakes' -- but blames enemies

NYSE - LSE

BCC	0.52%	75.44	$
RIO	0.57%	99.96	$
RBGPF	0.41%	68.02	$
GSK	0.02%	48.13	$
BTI	0.69%	55.24	$
NGG	0.62%	76.86	$
AZN	0.33%	160.17	$
RELX	-0.06%	33.8	$
CMSC	0.05%	20.45	$
BCE	0.6%	23.39	$
VOD	0.4%	17.4	$
JRI	-0.58%	12.01	$
RYCEF	2.1%	19.54	$
BP	0.04%	46.1	$
CMSD	-0.1%	20.32	$

UK's Truss admits to 'mistakes' -- but blames enemies

POLITICS 15.06.2023

UK's Truss admits to 'mistakes' -- but blames enemies / Photo: © AFP

British former prime minister Liz Truss on Thursday conceded to "mistakes" over her disastrous short-lived tenure last year -- but blamed the economic "establishment" for torpedoing her policies.

Text size:

The ex-Conservative leader issued guarded regrets in her first broadcast TV interview since she was ousted in October after just 49 days.

"Whilst I did what I could to deliver my policies, I also recognise I made mistakes as well," Truss told a sympathetic audience during a live question-and-answer session on the right-wing channel GB News.

"And I wasn't as ready as I should have been. And I wasn't prepared for some of the onslaught and brickbats that I got," she added.

Financial markets tanked, driving borrowing costs higher for millions of Britons already struggling with soaring prices, when Truss unveiled a package of unfunded tax cuts in a bid to kick-start economic growth.

Forced to fire her finance minister, Truss was then told by Conservative grandees that she herself could not survive in 10 Downing Street following the ouster of Boris Johnson, and was replaced by Rishi Sunak.

"I didn't want to see people's mortgages go up. I didn't want to see people in Britain struggling," Truss told the audience, while blaming "groupthink around what I call the economic establishment".

"What I want to see is those Conservative economic policies that give people real hope for the future. So that is what I'm determined to do. I'm determined to fight for those policies."

Truss backed Johnson after he was given an excoriating rebuke earlier Thursday by a committee of MPs investigating his "Partygate" denials during Covid lockdowns.

"Never, ever, ever write Boris off," she said, echoing Johnson's diehard supporters who are fighting the committee's recommended sanctions after he resigned as a member of parliament.

But Truss denied that she wanted Sunak to fail.

"Let's be clear -- I want the prime minister and the Conservatives to win the next election. I think (opposition Labour leader) Keir Starmer would be an absolute disaster," she said.

E. Carvalho--JDB

Featured

Houthis say hit Saudi base after renewed fighting with Yemeni govt forces

Houthi fighters on Sunday said they used drones and missiles to attack a military base in southern Saudi Arabia as renewed fighting with Yemen's government forces forced growing numbers of civilians to flee.

Christa Pike seeks clemency before September 30 execution in Tennessee

Lawyers for Christa Pike have asked Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to grant clemency ahead of her scheduled September 30 execution for Colleen Slemmer's 1995 murder. Their petition cites childhood abuse, mental illness, her age at the crime and three decades in solitary confinement.

Queens residents seek renewed enforcement along Roosevelt Avenue

Community leaders rallied in Jackson Heights on September 12, urging Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul to address alleged prostitution and trafficking along Roosevelt Avenue. Claims that conditions have worsened were not accompanied by current corridor-specific arrest data.

Maryland groups seek statewide data center pause after local moratoriums spread

More than 60 Maryland advocacy groups are seeking a temporary statewide halt to new data center proposals as local restrictions spread. Governor Wes Moore says developers should cover their power costs, but has not endorsed the statewide moratorium supported by challenger Dan Cox.