Liz Truss refuses to apologise for sparking mortgage rate rise – but admits one failing as PM
Liz Truss has acknowledged she and her government lost the confidence of financial markets following the mini-budget of October 2022 – but has refused to apologise to homeowners for higher interest rates.
Talking to Sky News, the former prime minister blamed her downfall on the Bank of England, primarily governor Andrew Bailey. However, she said she did not meet Mr Bailey once during her time in office.
“I actually had a meeting set up – I wanted to meet him,” she said. “But I was advised that would be a bad idea. And perhaps I shouldn’t have taken that advice.
“But that advice came from the cabinet secretary and what I didn’t want to do is further exacerbate the [market] problems.
“In retrospect, yes, I probably should have spoken directly to the governor of the Bank of England at the time.”
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Asked about the aftermath of the mini-budget, at which her chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng announced a series of unfunded tax cuts, without presenting evidence of how he would pay for them, Ms Truss said: “It’s fair to say that the government did not have the confidence of the markets…
“But if you have organisations within the state, like the Bank of England, like the Office of Budget Responsibility, who are pretty clear to people they don’t support the policies that are being pursued and are essentially undermining those policies, then it is difficult to command the confidence in the markets – because the markets look to the government for that leadership.”
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A look back: Truss’s time as PM
During Ms Truss’s short time in office, the expected path for the Bank’s interest rate a year ahead rose from below 4% to around 6%.
While those rates were increasing before the fiscal event, they shot up dramatically in the wake of the mini-budget, rising even further when, a few days later, Mr Kwarteng promised even more tax cuts.
That sharp increase in interest rates precipitated a short-lived crisis in UK financial markets, which triggered the near collapse of liability-driven investment (LDI) funds which underlie the pension market.
Asked whether she would apologise for the sharp rise in interest rates during her time in office, Ms Truss said: “I question the premise of what you’re asking me, because mortgage rates have gone up across the world.
“The issues that I faced in office, were issues of not being able to deliver the agenda because of a deep resistance within the establishment.”
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Liz Truss beside Kwasi Kwarteng at the mini-budget announcement in September 2022. Pic: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor/Handout via Reuters
She continued: “I think it’s wrong to suggest that I’m responsible for British people paying higher mortgages. That is something that has happened in every country in the free world.
“I’m not saying that I got everything absolutely perfect in the way the policy was communicated. But what I am saying is I faced real resistance and actions by the Bank of England that undermine my policy and created the problems in the market.”
Ms Truss was talking to Sky News in Washington DC on the US leg of her publicity tour for her new book, Ten Years To Save the West.
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Since publication it has emerged that one of the quotes she used in the book, attributed to Mayer Amschel Rothschild, is in fact a fake quote, often used in an antisemitic context.
Ms Truss said: “I’m very sorry about that. It was a complete mistake. It was something I found online and I’ve said I’m very sorry to the British Board of Deputies for that.
“It will be removed from all future editions of the book and removed from the Online Edition.”
Asked whether she feels more at home in the US than in the UK these days, she said: “Well, I do like aspects of American politics. I believe that on economics the US has got it more right than the UK has.
“My heart’s in Britain. But I think you’ve got to be prepared to learn from other countries that have that success.”
You can watch the full interview with the former prime minister on Sky News’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips programme from 8.30am this morning. Trevor is also joined by Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho, shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood and Reform UK leader Richard Tice.
Britain should have access to the EU’s rearmament fund before the end of the year but “wounds of Brexit” mean some member states want it to be limited, the bloc’s foreign affairs chief has said.
Kaja Kallas told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that the “technical details” of Security Action for Europe (SAFE) still need to be sorted out.
SAFE is a €150bn (£126bn) fund to provide loans to EU nations and other participants to bolster their defences.
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As part of Sir Keir Starmer’s new reset deal with the EU, a new defence partnership was struck that will allow the UK to access it.
Asked when this might be, Ms Kallas said: “The SAFE instrument has just been finalised between the institutions but it also needs approval from the European Council. And when that is done, we also move on with the implementation of that, and that is in the coming months.”
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Who wins from the UK-EU deal?
Asked about reports that some member states think there should be a limit on what the UK can access, she said: “ Of course these discussions are there. We have the wounds from Brexit very clearly.
“I mean you wanted to exit the European Union and then there are many voices who say that you shouldn’t have the same benefits from the European instruments that the European Union countries have.”
According to The Times, France is pushing to freeze the UK out of 85% of the fund.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs. Pic: Reuters
Asked if Britain’s access should be higher, Ms Kallas said her personal view is that given the current climate “we should do both. We should invest more in European industry. But we should also cooperate with our outside partners like the UK”.
She added that the EU hasn’t had discussions in terms of percentage, because the fund is “down to the capabilities”.
“That is, I think, more important than numbers,” she said.
Speaking to the BBC, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that the UK was in a “better place than any country in the world” on trade.
She said that under Labour, Britain has “the first deal and the best deal so far with the US, we’ve got the best deal with the EU for any country outside the EU, and we’ve got the best trade agreement with India”.
“Not only are these important in their own right,” she added, “but it also shows that Britain now is the place for investment and business, because we’ve got preferential deals with the biggest economies around the world.”
The UK government has said accessing SAFE will support thousands of British jobs.
Defence was one of the many areas that has been agreed as part of the new UK and the EU trade deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer – five years after Brexit kicked in.
A key part of the deal involves giving European fishing boats a further 12 years of access to British waters.
In return, there will be increased access to EU eGates for British passport holders in Europe, no health certificates every time pets travel to Europe and the removal of red tape from most UK food and drink imports and exports.
Genesis has launched a pair of lawsuits against its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), and its CEO, Barry Silbert, accusing them of fraud, reckless mismanagement and siphoning more than a billion dollars in value from the now-bankrupt crypto lender.
On May 19, the Delaware Court of Chancery unsealed a complaint detailing how DCG allegedly used Genesis as a corporate ATM, draining funds through self-serving loans and concealed transfers while presenting a false image of financial health.
Through their court-appointed Litigation Oversight Committee (LOC), Genesis creditors claim that over a million digital coins — worth about $2.1 billion — were funneled away, even as Genesis edged toward collapse.
As per the complaint, Genesis creditors are still owed around $2.2 billion worth of crypto assets, including 19,086 Bitcoin (BTC), 69,197 Ether (ETH) and over 17.1 million other tokens, along with significant unpaid fees and interest as of Feb. 9, 2025.
At the core of the lawsuit is the claim that Silbert and other insiders ignored basic risk controls and pushed Genesis into reckless lending practices that ultimately served to benefit DCG’s crown jewel, Grayscale Investments.
DCG withdrew $1.2 billion from Genesis before bankruptcy
The complaint describes Genesis as having operated without a board or independent oversight, with key decisions made to enrich DCG at the expense of depositors.
“In particular, Silbert, Kraines, and Murphy orchestrated sham transactions at the end of the second and third quarters of 2022, when Genesis’s books closed, to deceive Genesis lenders into believing that DCG was providing liquidity and equity to Genesis,” the complaint states.
Genesis also said it was forced to accept illiquid Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares as collateral and was barred from selling them, creating major valuation risks.
“GBTC was illiquid because it could not be sold for six months after its purchase due to a lockup period imposed by the SEC, and DCG prohibited Genesis from reselling GBTC even after the lockup period ended,” the complaint states.
The complaint names DCG, Barry Silbert, former Genesis CEO Michael Moro, former DCG chief financial officer Michael Kraines, DCG President Mark Murphy and DCG’s investment banker Ducera Partners as defendants.
Related: Bankrupt crypto firm Genesis completes restructuring
A second complaint, filed in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that DCG and its affiliates withdrew over $1.2 billion in US dollars and cryptocurrencies during the year leading up to Genesis’s bankruptcy.
These withdrawals, the LOC argued, were timed around major market events such as the collapses of Terra-Luna, Three Arrows Capital, and FTX — moments when Genesis was already insolvent.
Internal filings suggest insiders recovered 100% of their funds, while retail and institutional creditors were left exposed.
Genesis seeks to recover billions
In total, Genesis is seeking to recover more than $3.3 billion through the two lawsuits.
In April 2025, a New York judge ruled that most of the New York Attorney General’s civil fraud lawsuit against DCG, Silbert, and former Genesis CEO Michael Moro can move forward.
The suit accuses DCG and its bankrupt lending arm Genesis of misleading investors after the collapse of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, allegedly masking a $1 billion shortfall with a 10-year, low-interest promissory note.
While Gemini and Genesis have settled, DCG and the executives have fought the charges.
Genesis filed for bankruptcy in early 2023 with $14 billion in outstanding loans.
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A second man has been charged in connection with a series of fires linked to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Romanian national Stanislav Carpiuc is accused of arson with intent to endanger life, the Metropolitan Police said.
He has been charged with conspiring together with Roman Lavrynovych, 21, and others unknown to damage by fire property belonging to another, intending to damage the property, and intending to endanger the life or another or being reckless as to whether the life of another would thereby be endangered.
The 26-year-old, from Romford, was arrested at London Luton Airport on Saturday and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court this morning.
The charge relates to three fires.
A forensics officer outside the house in Kentish Town. Pic: PA
Pic: PA
Two of the fires took place in Kentish Town, north London. One occurred during the early hours of 12 May at the home where Sir Keir lived before he became prime minister and moved into Downing Street.
A car was set alight in the same street four days earlier on 8 May.
The other fire took place on 11 May at the front door of a house converted into flats in Islington.
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Following Carpiuc’s arrest by counter-terrorism officers, he was held in police custody after a warrant of further detention was obtained.
Lavrynovych, a Ukrainian national from Sydenham in southeast London, has already been charged with three counts of arson with intent to endanger life in connection with the fires.
He denied the charges in a police interview.
Lavrynovych appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday and was remanded in custody until a further hearing at the Old Bailey scheduled for 6 June.
A third man, aged 34, was arrested in Chelsea in southwest London on Monday on suspicion of arson.
He remains in custody, the Metropolitan Police said.
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