It is fair to prioritise tax cuts that benefit the highest earners 250 times more than the poorest, Liz Truss has said, insisting it is wrong to view all economic policy through the “lens of redistribution”.
In her most thorough interview in the Conservative leadership campaign, a day before she is widely expected to be declared the winner, Truss said she would provide immediate help over energy bills, but declined to say what.
v “What I can say is that if I’m elected as prime minister, within one week I will make sure there is an announcement on how we are going to deal with the issue of energy bills, and of long-term supply, to put this country on the right footing for winter,” Truss told BBC One’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show.
“I understand that people are struggling, that businesses are also concerned about their energy bills and the impact it could have on their future. So what I want to reassure people is, I will act.”
But under repeated questioning, Truss refused to give any details, saying she would only set this out if she defeated Rishi Sunak to become Tory leader on Monday. She would then take over from Boris Johnson as prime minister the next day.
Truss did, however, insist she would not be deflected from her prioritisation of tax cuts, and her efforts to cut regulation, saying it was more important to grow the economy than to try to reduce economic inequalities.
Shown calculations setting out that her planned reversal of a recent rise in national insurance would benefit top earners by around £1,800 a year, and the lowest earner by about £7, and asked if this was fair, Truss said: “Yes, it is fair.”
She said: “The people at the top of the income distribution pay more tax, so inevitably when you cut taxes, you tend to benefit people who are more likely to pay tax. » | Peter Walker, Political correspondent | Sunday, September 4, 2022
"That bloody woman" was used to refer to Margaret Thatcher; but it applies equally to Liz Truss, perhaps even more so. Liz Truss—should it be Liz O'Leary?—is a hard-boiled, heartless woman who clearly wishes to emulate Thatcher, but will fail, I believe. At least Thatcher had stature and charisma; Truss has neither of these. She is also not well-schooled in matters of Christianity. Were she to be so, she would be familiar with this verse from Matthew:
“For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.” – Matthew 13: 12 (The Bible: King James Version)I fear that we Brits are in for a very rough, tumultous ride with this woman at the helm. – © Mark Alexander
