PM Liz Truss says sorry for ‘mistakes’ in first few volatile weeks in office
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.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Rigby tells chancellor: ‘PM has totally failed’
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
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Has the chancellor done enough?
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.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘I don’t think her position is recoverable’
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”.
Comedy writer Bill Dare, – who worked on shows including Spitting Image and Dead Ringers – has died after an accident overseas, his agent said.
Described as a “super producer” by his peers, Dare, 64, worked on eight series of hugely popular satire puppet show Spitting Image.
Airing on ITV during the 1980s and 1990s, the show delighted in lampooning public figures including politicians, celebrities and royalty, winning BAFTAs and Emmys. It was rebooted in 2020.
Dare also created Dead Ringers, a comedy impressions show broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
He also produced The Now Show, a satirical take on the news which ran on Radio 4 from 1998 to 2024.
Dare worked on a wide range of comedy shows during his career, including the radio production of The Mary Whitehouse Experience in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He had also written several novels.
In a statement released on Monday, his agent JFL Agency confirmed he died at the weekend.
A spokesperson said: “We are shocked and greatly saddened to have to announce the death of our brilliant client Bill Dare, who died at the weekend following an accident overseas.
“Our thoughts are with his wife Lucy, daughter Rebecca, and with all of Bill’s family and friends who will be devastated by his loss.
“Bill was a truly legendary producer and writer, and his comedy instincts were second to none.”
Oasis depicted on Spitting Image in 1996. Pic: ITV/Shutterstock
Colleagues were quick to pay tribute and reflect on his talent.
Impressionist Jon Culshaw wrote on X: “It’s impossible to express the unreal sense of loss at the passing of the incredible Bill Dare. The wisest comedy alchemist and the dearest, dearest friend. Much love to Lucy and all Bill’s family and friends. We shall all miss him more than we can say.”
David Baddiel posted on the social media platform: “Just heard that the original producer of The Mary Whitehouse Experience on radio, Bill Dare, has died. Bill was an amazing creative force. I owe him much. RIP.”
Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman said she was “devastated” and that her “entire comedy career was down to Bill”.
She wrote: “When I was on the BBC Radio 4 rep company early on in career – I ran into Bill in the corridors – He asked if I was good at accents. I said yes.
“He cast me in a sketch show. I had to do about 15 different accents. We recorded in front of a live audience at Broadcasting House – afterwards Bill said ‘Why have I never met you – you’re going to have a big career’.
“He was incredibly loyal and supportive and really opened a path for me into the R4 comedy world and then TV having come out of the RSC and theatre it was all new. I will always be grateful. Fly high Bill.”
Comedian and writer Mark Steel wrote: “This is so grim. Bill was a compassionate hearty soul with the ability to be beautifully grumpy, a marvellously thoughtful comic mind.
“He’d argue but always listen and you’d always laugh, he made a million shows and wanted them all to matter and would have made a million more.”
Have I Got News for You writer Pete Sinclair said: “I am utterly devastated by Bill’s death. I still can’t believe it. He was a comedy genius. A hugely talented writer as well as a brilliant producer. A close friend and co-writer. I cannot begin to say how much I’ll miss him.”
Read more from Sky News:
Dolly Parton’s husband of nearly 60 years dies
With Love, Meghan: What we learnt from new Netflix series
The Crown actor ‘told to attend police interview’
Julia McKenzie, comedy commissioner for Radio 4, said: “I am so terribly sorry to hear this tragic news and my thoughts are with Bill’s wife, family and friends.
“Bill has been a huge part of Radio 4 comedy for decades, as a writer and producer, and listeners will have heard his legendary name at the end of many of their favourite shows.
“Bill was a comedy obsessive, and very instinctive about making the funniest choices when it came to writing, directing and editing.
“He cared so much about his work that in the production booth during Dead Ringers you’d see him crouched over the script, utterly focused on the show.
“He was funny and very dry in person, amusingly cynical when he needed to be and always pushed to keep the comedy he made, and particularly satire, spiky.
“I’ve known and worked with him for 18 years and like many I can’t believe he has gone, he will leave a big hole in the comedy world and in our hearts.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports11 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway