Grant Shapps says Liz Truss had right priorities but failed as she did not deal with ‘big structural issues’
Grant Shapps has said Liz Truss had the right priorities but failed as she did not try to deal with the “big structural issues” first.
The business secretary said he agreed the UK should have a low-tax economy, as the short-lived prime minister advocated, but inflation and debt needed to be dealt with first.
He was speaking the morning after Ms Truss released a 4,000-word essay in the Telegraph on Saturday night about what she had wanted to do as PM and why she thought it did not work.
People can ‘come to our own conclusions’ over Truss claims – live politics updates
Mr Shapps, who was home secretary for Ms Truss’ final six days, told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: “I noted that she said that they hadn’t prepared the ground for these big tax changes.
“And I think the truth is, and we know this, what you’ve got to do first is deal with the big sort of structural issues.
“Deal with inflation first, deal with the debt so you’re on a downward trajectory.
“And then you look towards tax cuts.”
He added: “I completely agree with Liz’s instinct to have a lower tax economy but what we know is if you do that before you’ve dealt with inflation and debt you can end up in difficulty.
“You can’t get the growth out of nowhere.”
Grant Shapps was home secretary under Liz Truss for her final six days
Ms Truss said she was never given a “realistic chance” to implement her radical tax-cutting agenda and claimed she was not warned about the fragility of the British economy.
The former PM also claimed she was ousted by a “very powerful economic establishment” that has “shifted Left-wards” – despite her own MPs forcing her out.
Ms Truss said she has a mandate from Conservative members, after they voted for her over Rishi Sunak, implying the current PM does not as his leadership never went to a vote of the membership.
In her first detailed comments since she was ousted from Number 10, Ms Truss said she had not appreciated the strength of the resistance she would face to her plans.
Read more: Analysis – Truss may be no Messiah but her political comeback has rattled some MPs
‘We’re back to where we should be’
Despite previously calling Ms Truss “tin-eared”, Mr Shapps refused to directly criticise Ms Truss’ leadership, which she called time on after just 44 days following the disastrous mini-budget in September.
He added that, as an MP and former Tory leader, she had the right to put her argument across in the article.
But he backed current PM Rishi Sunak in a backhanded swipe at his predecessor, saying the prime minister is tackling high inflation to ease pressure on the economy before growth can happen.
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Three PMs in three months: A timeline
“I think the main thing for people to know is Rishi Sunak’s come in,” he said.
“He’s removed that premium that we saw because the markets didn’t like what was going on back then and entirely removed the additional premium that was being applied to, essentially, our mortgage rates.
“So we’re back to where we should be.
“And he’s getting on with the difficult things in a world where Putin’s invaded a neighbouring country and inflation is therefore going up. He’s got on with the difficult job of dealing with those things.”
Truss article ‘very important’
Simon Clarke, Tory MP and chief secretary to the Treasury until Ms Truss became PM, said her article poses “important questions” about the extent to which it is possible to deliver tax cuts and/or spending reductions with current economic modelling.
“To what extent does the OBR model the results of policy, and to what extent does it pre-determine it by virtue of its modelling framework?” he tweeted.
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Former Conservative MP for Reading East, Rob Wilson, who was a Truss supporter, said her article is “very important” and “you have to take it seriously” when a former PM says she was “stymied by her own Treasury” and raises questions about the Bank of England and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
“I think that she didn’t get a proper go,” he told Sky News.
“She made some mistakes, sure. But, you know, we all make mistakes in life.
“She certainly shouldn’t have had organisations blocking her from doing the things that she set out to do, that’s for certain.”
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
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Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
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