PM Liz Truss says sorry for ‘mistakes’ in first few volatile weeks in office

Published

3 years ago

October 18, 2022

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Liz Truss has apologised for the “mistakes” she has made in her first few volatile weeks as prime minister – but insisted she will lead the Tories into the next general election.

Speaking for the first time after almost all the tax cuts announced in last month’s mini-budget were scrapped, Ms Truss said: “I recognise we have made mistakes.

“I am sorry for those mistakes, but I fixed those mistakes. I appointed a new chancellor, we have restored economic stability and fiscal discipline.

“What I now want to do is go on and deliver for the public.

“We were elected on the 2019 manifesto, and I want to go on and deliver that.”

Chancellor Hunt urges Tories to ‘give Truss a chance’

After a fifth Conservative MP – senior backbencher Sir Charles Walker – warned her days are numbered, Ms Truss said she was focused on “delivering for the British public”.

“We are in difficult economic times; we are in different international times with the war being perpetrated in Ukraine.

“Now is the time to focus on delivering, making sure we are delivering on our energy package,” she said.

Speaking to the BBC, the prime minister added: “I wanted to act… to help people with their energy bills to deal with the issue of high taxes, but we went too far and too fast. I’ve acknowledged that.”

Ms Truss said it was the “mark of an honest politician” to admit their mistakes.

She said she is “sticking around” because she was “elected to deliver for this country”, adding: “I will lead the Conservatives into the next general election.”

Beth Rigby analysis: ‘It can’t go on like this’ – it looks to be over for PM Truss

Ms Truss is battling to save her premiership after new chancellor Jeremy Hunt tore up the bulk of the economic strategy that brought her into office as prime minister just six weeks ago.

On Tuesday, she is expected to meet the European Research Group of Conservative MPs, after meeting with the One Nation wing of the party on Monday evening.

Ms Truss became PM after winning the Tory leadership contest on the back of promises to dramatically cut tax and upend the status quo in the Treasury.

But she has been left humiliated by a raft of U-turns after her tax-slashing mini-budget unleashed turbulence in the financial markets, sending the pound to record lows against the dollar, interest and mortgage rates soaring, and forcing the Bank of England to intervene.

The chaos ultimately led to Mr Kwarteng’s downfall, and he was sacked after just 38 days in the job.

On Monday, his replacement as chancellor, Mr Hunt, revealed he was reversing nearly all the tax cuts unveiled last month and said he would be setting up an economic advisory council to assist the government as it seeks to repair the damage caused by Ms Truss’s fiscal policies.

The changes Mr Hunt revealed include:

• No cuts to dividend tax rates
• Repeal of the easing of IR35 rules for the self-employed introduced in 2017 and 2021
• No new VAT-free shopping scheme for overseas visitors to the UK
• No freeze on alcohol duty rates
• Basic rate of income tax to remain at 20%, not reduce to 19% from April 2023
• Energy price guarantee only until April 2023

He also signalled there could be U-turns on other policy areas, including the windfall tax, pensions triple lock and pledge to raise defence spending.

The government had already axed plans to scrap the 45p rate of income tax for top earners and had U-turned on a promise not to increase corporation tax.

The extraordinary events have led to some Tory MPs calling for Ms Truss to go, with Sir Charles Walker telling Sky News political editor Beth Rigby: “I think her position is untenable. She has put colleagues, the country, through a huge amount of unnecessary pain and upset and worry.”

He suggested she has one to two weeks to resign before MPs try to remove her.

But Mr Hunt has insisted Ms Truss will be prime minister at Christmas, as he called on rebel Tory MPs to “give her a chance”.

World

Brutal murder on ‘date’ exposes robbery gang suspected of targeting dozens of women in South Africa

Published

20 hours ago

June 30, 2025

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Brutal murder on 'date' exposes robbery gang suspected of targeting dozens of women in South Africa

Thirty-year-old Olorato Mongale made sure to take all the measures necessary for a safe first date in South Africa’s biggest city, Johannesburg.

She had agreed to meet ‘John’ in the daytime. She sent her friends her phone location after leaving her house and promptly texted them “on the road” at 2.47pm.

They replied “enjoy!”, hoping she would find love.

An hour later, their friend had gone silent and her phone location was showing up in dangerous areas of the city.

A search party of seven friends set off to trace Olorato’s digital footsteps.

“It didn’t make sense. Where is she? Why is she missing?” says Karabo Mokoena, as we drove to the locations involved in their search.

“Every place we went to looked dodgier and dodgier. It made me panic – I was very scared.”

After finding her bag on a pile of bricks off the side of a main road, they filed a missing person report at a police station.

“I thought there was no way we were not going to find her. We did end up finding her but not in the way we would have hoped,” says Karabo.

Olorato’s body had been dumped at the dirt entrance of a random house less than 100m from where her friends were searching into the night.

Her face was swollen and her eyes black-blue from violent impact. Her top was ripped open to expose her breasts.

Police told Sky News that her post-mortem showed signs of blunt force trauma. She was likely beaten to death.

“It was like I was dreaming, seeing her body like that with those bruises and blood everywhere,” says Olorato’s mother, Keabetswe Poppy Mongale, describing the moment she had to identify her only child at the morgue.

“I don’t think what I saw will ever go away,” she adds.

“It was very painful. I don’t wish that on any parent because my beautiful little girl looked different because someone chose to do that to her.”

CCTV from the driveway of Olorato’s building shows the last time she was seen alive, leaving her home to meet ‘John’.

In the video, she walks towards a white Volkswagen Polo and hesitates as she reaches the left back door. John had come with a friend.

Four days after Olorato was killed, police found the car in a different province with traces of her blood splattered across the back seat.

Philangenkosi Sibongokuhle Makanya – ‘John’ – was shot dead by police in KwaZulu-Natal shortly after they found the vehicle.

The second man in the car, Bongani Mthimkhulu, is still on the run.

The two men have since been identified as part of a dangerous criminal syndicate that lure young women out on dates and rob them at gunpoint.

“Within the four days, the investigating officers received 94 calls from women who were raising concerns and identifying the suspects as those they once met,” South African Police Service deputy national commissioner Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili told Sky News.

“It was unfortunate about Olorato, but others were released after being robbed.”

A 24-year-old student who survived an armed robbery at the hands of Olorato’s suspected killers says she was happy to see Philangenkosi killed but she’s still scared for her life.

“As women, we are not even safe anymore – we can’t even walk freely,” she says.

“The moment you leave your house you wonder if you will make it back alive. I don’t feel comfortable walking around the street. I leave the house and then turn back.

“Even when I’m home, I still don’t feel safe and always want to keep myself locked indoors,” she says with a shaky voice – choosing to remain anonymous.

After meeting other victims of the syndicate, she was shocked to hear details of almost identical abductions.

“This other girl was surprised because we went through the exact same situation. They also approached her with the same tactic – let me take you out to lunch to get to know you – only for her to be robbed.”

South Africa has one of the highest femicide rates in the world – an average 15 women are killed a day, many by their intimate partners.

According to police statistics, more than 5,500 women were murdered in South Africa last year. An increase of 33.8% compared with the previous year.

“South Africa has six times the average rate of femicide – hundreds of women have already been killed since Olorato’s murder,” says Cameron Kasambala from Women for Change.

The advocacy group raises awareness of rising cases of femicide and gender-based violence across South Africa.

In the hours after her murder, Olorato’s friends contacted Women for Change to share her missing poster after receiving little immediate help from the local police station.

“I think her friends were the real heroes in that moment,” says Cameron.

“Two police stations that were 10 minutes apart, one finds a body and one has a missing case, don’t make a connection for hours. It’s not the most reassuring police work. And if the friends had not come forward, how long would it have taken?

“Unfortunately, Olorato’s case is an exception. Most cases are not handled that quickly.”

Olorato’s friends are still contending with the violence of her death – what it means for their daily lives and how they navigate their safety as women in South Africa.

“It is difficult to process and difficult to believe. This is somebody who ticked all the boxes when it came to being careful – being meticulous, checking her surroundings and leaving clues,” says Olorato’s friend, Koketso Sejosengoe.

“It shows it can happen to anybody no matter how safe you are. It is happening to the average girl. They are being targeted. These men know what they are doing and who they are looking for.”

“In the purest sense, Olorato wanted women to be safe and wanted women to be protected,” adds Koketso.

“I think she would be very proud to know that her name has not gone in vain and that her death is standing for something – that there will be change that comes with this.”

World

European heatwave leaves Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece in sweltering 40C heat

Published

20 hours ago

June 30, 2025

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European heatwave leaves Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece in sweltering 40C heat

Major heatwaves across southern Europe have left Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Greece in sweltering conditions of more than 40C (104F).

Two-thirds of Portugal was on high alert for extreme heat and risk of wildfires on Sunday, with temperatures in Lisbon expected to exceed 42C (107F).

In parts of southern Spain, temperatures are well above average, with 42C also expected in Seville and other cities.

The country’s meteorological service says June is likely to be the hottest Spain has experienced since records began.

In several Italian regions, including Lazio, Tuscany, Calabria, Puglia, and Umbria, outdoor work was banned during peak hours of sun on Sunday, with trade unions pushing for the measures to be extended and rolled out nationwide.

Twenty-one out of 27 cities were under the highest possible heat alert, including Rome, Milan, and Naples.

Greece has already been plagued by wildfires this summer, with one breaking out south of Athens on Thursday, and several on the island of Chios last Sunday.

Near Athens, authorities deployed 130 firefighters, 12 helicopters, and 12 planes, with 40 people evacuated from the highest-risk areas.

A woman was arrested on suspicion of unintentional arson after wildfires spread across brush and pastureland for three days on Chios.

Scientists link increasing frequencies of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, wildfires, and storms to climate change.

In France and Germany, at least three people died amid stormy conditions.

A ridge of high pressure above central and western Europe is driving the scorching conditions, says Sky News meteorologist Chris England.

Hotter-than-normal sea temperatures, dry land, and surface winds are also partly to blame, he added.

UK heatwave also likely

The UK is halfway through a four-day amber heat health alert, with temperatures expected to peak in the mid-30s (86F) on Tuesday.

Heat health alerts are not public weather warnings – but are instead designed to prepare health and social care bodies for the potential impact on their infrastructure and vulnerable groups.

Heatwave thresholds are likely to be met on Monday and Tuesday, which vary between 28C (82F) in the south of England and 25C (77F) across the rest of the country.

World

British-Israeli soldier killed while fighting in Gaza, reports say

Published

1 day ago

June 29, 2025

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British-Israeli soldier killed while fighting in Gaza, reports say

A British-Israeli soldier has been killed while fighting in Gaza, Israeli media reports said.

He was named locally as Sergeant Yisrael Natan Rosenfeld, 20, from the city of Ra’anana.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said it is “looking into reports that an IDF soldier who died in combat in Gaza is a British national”.

The IDF soldier, who served in the 601st Combat Engineering Battalion, was killed by an explosive device on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported.

The paper said Mr Rosenfeld moved to Israel from London with his family 11 years ago.

More than 860 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Israel’s war against Hamas began on 7 October 2023, more than 400 of them during the fighting in Gaza.

The war began when the militant group launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has devastated the enclave and killed more than 56,000 people, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says more than half of the dead are women and children.

It came as Donald Trump called for progress in ceasefire talks in the war between Israel and Hamas.

“MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!” the US president wrote on social media on Sunday.