Liz Truss vows to ‘get Britain through the tempest’ in keynote speech amid cabinet split as she is heckled
Liz Truss vowed to “get Britain through the tempest” and insisted “everyone will benefit” from the result of her economic policies in her keynote conference speech during which she was heckled by Greenpeace supporters.
Addressing Conservative members at the event in Birmingham, as she battles to save her premiership, the prime minister acknowledged that “these are stormy days”.
“In these tough times, we need to step up,” she continued.
“I am determined to get Britain moving, to get us through the tempest and put us on a stronger footing as a nation.”
Liz Truss’s speech stopped by protest – Politics latest
She continued: “Whenever there is change there is disruption. Not everyone will be in favour but everyone will benefit from the result.”
Ms Truss was interrupted by two Greenpeace protesters who heckled: “Who voted for this,” as they held up a banner.
They were quickly removed by security in the conference hall.
In a tweet after the incident, Greenpeace said activists were there to “denounce the prime minister ‘shredding’ her party’s 2019 manifesto promises”.
“The PM is U-turning on fracking, strong climate action, and world-leading environmental protections. Who voted for this?”
Continuing, the PM told the audience she and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng “will keep closely co-ordinating our monetary and fiscal policy” after the government’s tax-cutting mini-budget saw the pound slump to a record level.
She promised “an iron grip on the nation’s finances” and vowed to break Britain out of a “high-tax, low-growth cycle”, adding: “The chancellor and I are in lockstep on this.”
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Protesters interrupt Truss speech
Ms Truss said she is “working flat out” to make sure people can get through the economic crisis.
“So let me be clear: we have your back,” the PM added.
The PM said she and Mr Kwarteng U-turned on abolishing the 45p tax rate on top earners because it “became a distraction”.
“I get it and I have listened,” she told the audience.
The tax cut for the wealthiest 1% was one of a raft announced by Mr Kwarteng in his mini-budget less than two weeks ago that led to market turmoil – with the pound plummeting, the Bank of England having to step in to rescue pension funds and mortgage products being withdrawn.
On Tuesday, Home Secretary Suella Braverman accused Tory MPs of staging a “coup” against the PM over the 45p tax rate.
Fellow cabinet minister Simon Clarke also publicly disclosed his objection to the reversal of the policy.
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Outlining her three priorities for Britain’s economy: “growth, growth and growth”, Ms Truss said she “will not allow the anti-growth coalition of Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP to hold us back”.
She accused Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of having “no long-term plan and no vision for Britain”.
Hinting at more “disruption”, the PM also promised that her government will always be “fiscally responsible”.
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Truss: ‘No shame’ over tax U-turn
Ms Truss received applause for saying she is the first prime minister to have attended a comprehensive school.
However, former Labour prime minister Gordon Brown also did so.
The prime minister walked onto the stage to M-People’s ‘Moving on Up’.
But one member of the 90s dance band was not pleased with the song being used, posting on social media: “I don’t want my song being a soundtrack to lies.”
Labour also pointed out that Heather Small from M-People has attended Labour dinners in the past and that her son is a recently elected Labour councillor.
The first standing ovation came when Ms Truss referenced the war in Ukraine, telling the audience of Tory members: “We will make sure this never happens again.”
But the speech, which was just over half an hour long, contained no new policy announcements and made no reference to benefits – which the PM is facing another split within her cabinet over.
On Tuesday, Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt joined backbench rebels in calling for welfare payments to be raised in line with inflation, which has been at around 10%, rather than earnings at 5%.
Two additional cabinet ministers have also told Sky News that they believe benefits should be uprated in line with inflation.
While it is understood that Chairman of the 1922 Committee of backbench Conservative MPs Sir Graham Brady has warned Ms Truss that any attempt to uprate benefits by average earnings rather than by inflation is unlikely to get through Parliament.
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Do the public and cabinet still trust Truss?
But closing her first conference speech as PM, Ms Truss vowed to “stay the course” amid the infighting within the Conservative Party over her policy agenda.
She urged both Tory members and MPs to “trust me to do what it takes” to push through her “difficult but necessary” pro-growth agenda.
“The status quo is not an option. That is why we can’t give in to the voices of decline,” she said.
“We can’t give in to those who say Britain can’t grow faster. We can’t give in to those who say we can’t do better.”
Responding to the speech, Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The most important thing the prime minister can do right now to stabilise the economy is to immediately reverse her government’s kamikaze budget when Parliament returns next week.”
While Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey described the address as a “disaster for families and the economy”.
Ms Truss exited the stage to applause and quickly left the conference venue.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Rosie Duffield. Pic: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via Reuters
Sir Keir has faced backlash after a Sky News report revealed he had received substantially more freebies than any other MP since becoming Labour leader.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
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She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.
UK
King Charles hails ‘uniquely special’ Scotland as it marks Holyrood milestone – before being hugged by woman
The King has paid tribute to Scotland as a “uniquely special place” for the Royal Family as he marked the 25th anniversary of the Scottish parliament.
At the ceremony to commemorate a quarter of a century since parliament opened at Holyrood, the King said: “Speaking from a personal perspective, Scotland has always had a uniquely special place in the hearts of my family and myself.
“My beloved grandmother was proudly Scottish, my late mother especially treasured the time spent at Balmoral, and it was there in the most beloved of places, where she chose to spend her final days.”
He said we are all “united by our love of Scotland”, paying tribute to its “natural beauty”, “strength of character”, “diversity of its people”, “passions and frequently deeply held beliefs”.
“From the central belt to the north Highlands, across the islands in Ayrshire, in the Borders, the cities, towns and villages, all the coastal communities, who I wonder, could not fail to be moved by this complex Caledonian kaleidoscope?,” he asked as presiding officer Alison Johnstone and the Queen sat beside him.
After he gave the speech, the King was hugged by a member of the public – who said she did so “because of him being unwell”.
The 75-year-old was diagnosed with cancer in February but has since returned to public duties.
Yvonne Macmillan, 59, from East Renfrewshire, attended the anniversary ceremony with her husband Russell who is registered blind and chosen as a “local hero” for work in their area.
“I asked him if he was feeling better and if I could give him a hug. I actually said to him: ‘Can I hug you?’,” she said.
“As I hugged him I said, ‘God bless you’, so it was like God giving him a hug.”
The King listens to the presiding officer of the Scottish parliament at Holyrood. Pic: PA
The Queen sits alongside the King as he makes his speech on Saturday. Pic: PA
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While Sir Tony Blair’s Labour government legislated for Scottish devolution in 1997 – parliament officially opened at Holyrood on 1 July 1999.
The King has made six visits to the parliament since 1999 – while his mother Queen Elizabeth II made 10 visits during her lifetime.
The King arrives at the Scottish parliament on Saturday. Pic: PA
Scottish First Minister John Swinney is one of a number of MSPs who have been at Holyrood since the start of devolution.
He said in his own speech in Edinburgh on Saturday that the parliament has “placed itself at the very heart of the nation”, describing it as a “vessel of enlightenment, invention and creativity”.
The King shakes hands with First Minister John Swinney in Edinburgh on Saturday. Pic: PA
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The SNP’s Christine Grahame is another MSP who has been there since the start.
“Free tuition, free prescriptions, game-changing policies to tackle child poverty, the ban on smoking, the baby box, ScotRail back in public ownership – none of this would have been possible without the Scottish parliament and the strength of our commitment to self-determination,” she said on Saturday.
The King said the devolved parliament has the ability to “touch and to improve the lives of so many individuals”.
Former first ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf take a selfie as they wait for the King. Pic: PA
But he added that “there remains much more to be done” for Scotland, the rest of the UK, particularly with regards to climate change.
“Let this moment therefore be the beginning of the next chapter,” he told those assembled.
“The achievement of the past and the commitment shown in the present give us the soundest basis for confidence in the future.”
A moped riding phone thief was caught red-handed after police tracked the device down hours after he snatched it from a woman’s hand.
CCTV footage released by police showed a masked moped rider mount the pavement in Croydon, south London, to swipe a phone from a woman’s hand on 6 March, while another victim had theirs stolen while they waited for a bus an hour later.
Amari Scott, 20, looked surprised when confronted by officers inside a shop, where he was found with two mobile phones.
Amari Scott was caught red-handed. Pic: Met Police
“We’ve just had a moped rob a mobile phone off the pavement and the phone is pinging in this location,” one of the officers told him in body-worn camera footage before Scott was handcuffed and led away.
Police also recovered a stolen motorbike and Scott, from Sutton, south London, was later jailed for four years.
Two teenagers who committed four robberies in the space of just half an hour were also arrested as part of a crackdown in Croydon.
Aged 16 and 17, the teens were issued with referral orders after pleading guilty to charges of robbery, attempted robbery and attempted grievous bodily harm.
Amari Scott was jailed for four years. Pic: Met Police
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They were behind a spree of eight robberies across Croydon and nearby Bromley, including four within 30 minutes on the morning of 5 August.
Their crimes, which included the knife point robbery of a rough sleeper outside Croydon library, were caught on CCTV.
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One of the teenagers tried to discard a knife before she was arrested after a foot chase, telling officers: “The knife wasn’t mine”.
The other ran away, leaving a knife and his bag, but was lying in bed at home when he was arrested shortly after.
Two teenagers committed four robberies in 30 minutes. Pic: Met Police
The Metropolitan Police said officers are intensifying efforts to tackle robbery and theft, encouraging victims to report incidents as they happen to increase the chances of catching the criminals.
Chief Inspector James Weston said: “We understand the impact that robbery has on victims – it is invasive and frightening.
“That’s why our teams are working so hard to deter and catch offenders to reassure our local community.
“Thanks to the hard work of officers, our partners and community grassroots organisations, we are stepping up our efforts and tackling the issues that matter most to the people of Croydon.”
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