‘I know brighter days lie ahead’: Liz Truss bids farewell to Downing Street

Published

3 years ago

October 25, 2022

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Liz Truss has insisted “brighter days lie ahead” for the country as she gave her final speech before leaving Number 10.

Speaking outside Downing Street, Ms Truss, who has become the UK’s shortest serving prime minister after just seven weeks, wished Rishi Sunak “every success” as he takes the reins.

But she appeared to double down on her political philosophy, saying “Brexit freedoms” should allow taxes to be lower, and adding: “We simply cannot afford to be a low growth country”.

New PM – latest updates from Downing Street

“I am more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and confront the challenges that we face,” she said.

“As the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote, it’s not because things are difficult that we do not dare is because we do not dare that they are difficult.”

Ms Truss went to Buckingham Palace to officially offer her resignation to the King.

Just before 11am, the Royal Household confirmed the event had taken place and that King Charles was “graciously pleased to accept”.

Now the new leader of the Conservative Party, Mr Sunak, is meeting the King, where he will be asked to form a new government.

In her speech, the outgoing PM claimed her short-lived administration had “acted urgently and decisively on the side of hard working families and businesses” by reversing the rise in National Insurance and introducing help with energy bills over the winter.

But there was no apology after the economic chaos of recent weeks following her tax slashing mini-budget that ultimately let to her downfall.

Instead, she revealed she planned to stay in politics, “spending more time in my constituency and continuing to serve South West Norfolk from the backbenches”, before echoing the speech she made on entering Downing Street.

“Our country continues to battle through a storm, but I believe in Britain,” she said. “I believe in the British people and I know that brighter days lie ahead.”

Truss was forced to focus on principles, not achievements

Joe Pike

Political correspondent

@joepike

Liz Truss’s speech departing Downing Street was only slightly more memorable than the one she delivered on arrival.

With such an insubstantial legacy, she was forced to focus on her principles, rather than her achievements.

Ms Truss returned to her insistence that the UK “cannot afford to be a low growth country”, her belief in lower taxes, and also said: “Ukraine must prevail”.

She seemed to be attempting to argue that it was her boldness that brought her down – critics would argue it was a dangerous and irresponsible lack of political caution.

With echoes of Boris Johnson, Ms Truss quoted the Roman philosopher Seneca, saying: “It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare. It is because we do not dare that they are difficult.”

These Downing Street farewells are by their very nature laced with failure, but today there was no real acknowledgment of the disastrous nature of Ms Truss’s premiership.

In the three minute six second address, she did not apologise or show regret for the economic mess she has left for her successor, or indeed for millions of people across the country.

Instead she seemed to be offering advice to Mr Sunak – that he should be radical in delivering Brexit and changing the economic landscape of the UK.

Like Gordon Brown in 2010 and David Cameron in 2016, the Truss children (Frances, 16, and Liberty, 13) watched their mother speak outside Number 10 and joined her in meeting the monarch at Buckingham Palace.

Liz Truss said she will now be spending more time in her Norfolk constituency – a clear sign she is not expecting a role in Rishi Sunak’s cabinet.

Reports suggests she intends to “take a break” from frontline politics, but that of course is hardly her choice. Ms Truss toxic reputation means future prime ministers are unlikely to want her anywhere near their top teams.

Ms Truss won the keys to Number 10 at the start of September after a summer-long leadership contest to replace Boris Johnson.

She beat Mr Sunak with 57% of the votes from party members and promised them she would “deliver, deliver, deliver”.

The start of her premiership was dominated by the death of the Queen, with her attending tribute events across the country to support the new King and giving a reading at the monarch’s funeral.

But her time in office was defined by the mini-budget that sent markets into turmoil and the pound dropping at record rates.

Ms Truss tried to regain her authority by firing her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and replacing him with Jeremy Hunt, who within days had reversed nearly all her policies.

But after the resignation of her home secretary and chaos in parliament over a vote on fracking, she said she accepted she could no longer stay in post.

Mr Sunak was chosen to replace her by Tory MPs four days later, and will shortly become the country’s new prime minister.

World

‘At least 798 killed’ at Gaza aid points – as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

Published

15 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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'At least 798 killed' at Gaza aid points - as medical charity warns acute malnutrition at all-time high

At least 798 people in Gaza have reportedly been killed while receiving aid in the past six weeks – while acute malnutrition is said to have reached an all-time high.

The UN human rights office said 615 of the deaths – between 27 May and 7 July – were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” said Ravina Shamdasani, from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Its figures are based on a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries, and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), its partners on the ground, and Hamas-run health authorities.

Aid agency Project Hope said on Thursday that 10 children were among at least 15 people killed as they waited for its clinic in Deir al Balah to open.

The GHF has claimed the UN figures are “false and misleading” and has repeatedly denied any violence at or around its sites.

Meanwhile, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) – also known as Doctors Without Borders – said two of its sites were seeing their worst-ever levels of severe malnutrition.

Cases at its Gaza City clinic are said to have tripled from 293 in May to 983 in early July.

“Over 700 pregnant or breastfeeding women and nearly 500 children are now receiving emergency nutritional care,” MSF said.

The humanitarian medical charity said food prices were at extreme levels, with sugar at $766 (£567) per kilo and flour $30 (£22) per kilo, and many families surviving on one meal of rice or lentils a day.

It’s a major concern for the estimated 55,000 pregnant women in Gaza, who risk miscarriage, stillbirth and malnourished infants because of the shortages.

The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the coastal territory.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip.

The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what it says is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies from falling into the hands of militants.

After the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians trying to reach the aid hubs, the United Nations has called the GHF’s aid model “inherently unsafe” and a violation of humanitarian impartiality standards.

In response, a GHF spokesperson said: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

At least 798 people have been killed at Gaza aid points, the UN says

Published

23 hours ago

July 11, 2025

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At least 798 people in Gaza have been killed while receiving aid in six weeks, the UN human rights office has said.

A spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said 615 of the killings were “in the vicinity” of sites run by the controversial US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

A further 183 people killed were “presumably on the route of aid convoys,” Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

The office said its figures are based on numbers from a range of sources, including hospitals, cemeteries and families in the Gaza Strip, as well as NGOs, its partners on the ground and the Hamas-run health authorities.

The GHF has claimed the figures are “false and misleading”. It has repeatedly denied there has been any violence at or around its sites.

The organisation began distributing food packages in Gaza at the end of May, after Israel eased its 11-week blockade of aid into the enclave.

It has four distribution centres, three of which are in the southern Gaza Strip. The sites, kept off-limits to independent media, are guarded by private security contractors and located in zones where the Israeli military operates.

Palestinian witnesses say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire towards crowds of people going to receive aid.

The Israeli military says it has fired warning shots at people who have behaved in what they say is a suspicious manner.

It says its forces operate near the aid sites to stop supplies falling into the hands of militants.

In response, a GHF spokesperson told the Reuters news agency: “The fact is the most deadly attacks on aid sites have been linked to UN convoys.”

The GHF says it has delivered more than 70 million meals to Gazans in five weeks and claims other humanitarian groups had “nearly all of their aid looted” by Hamas or criminal gangs.

World

Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2025

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Ten children among at least 15 killed waiting for Gaza health clinic to open, says aid group

Ten children and two women are among at least 15 killed in an airstrike near a Gaza health clinic, according to an aid organisation.

Project Hope said it happened this morning near Altayara Junction, in Deir al Balah, as patients waited for the clinic to open.

The organisation’s president called it a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and a stark reminder that no one and no place is safe in Gaza“.

“No child waiting for food and medicine should face the risk of being bombed,” added the group’s project manager, Dr Mithqal Abutaha.

“It was a horrific scene. People had to come seeking health and support, instead they faced death.”

Operations at the clinic – which provides a range of health and maternity services – have been suspended.

Some of the children were reportedly waiting to receive nutritional supplements, necessary due to the dire shortage of food being allowed into Gaza.

Israel‘s military is investigating and said it was targeting a militant who took part in the 7 October terror attack.

“The IDF [Israel Defence Force] regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and operates to minimize harm as much as possible,” added.

The deaths come as an agreement over a 60-day truce hangs in the balance – with President Trump cautiously saying it could happen “this week, or next week”.

Elsewhere in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital reported another 21 deaths in airstrikes in Khan Younis and in the nearby coastal area of Muwasi.

It said three children and their mother were among the dead.

Israel said its troops have been dismantling more than 130 Hamas infrastructure sites in Khan Younis over the past week, including missile launch sites, weapons storage facilities and a 500m tunnel.

On Wednesday, a soldier was shot dead when militants burst out of a tunnel and tried to abduct him, the military added.

Eighteen soldiers have been killed in the past three weeks – one of the deadliest periods for the Israeli army in months.

A 22-year-old Israeli man was also killed on Thursday by two attackers in a supermarket in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said the Magen David Adom emergency service.

People on site reportedly shot and killed the attackers but information on their identity has so far not been released.

Negotiations over a proposed 60-day ceasefire are ongoing and President Trump reportedly put “heavy” pressure on Israel’s leader, who visited the US this week.

A major sticking point is said to be the status of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) inside Gaza during the 60-day ceasefire and beyond, should it last longer.

However, Sky News understands the Israeli government thinks the chances of a permanent truce are “questionable”.

More than 57,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war – more than half are women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.

Its figure does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.

The war began in October 2023 after Hamas killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 251 others.

Some of them remain In Gaza and are a crucial part of ceasefire negotiations, which also include a planned surge in humanitarian aid into the strip.