Liz Truss criticises Sunak's policies, blames tory leaders for her downfall

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was criticised for his "detrimental" tax policies by his predecessor, Liz Truss, who also asserted that the Conservative Party was the reason for her downfall. According to a report published in Telegraph, Truss once again showed confidence in her agenda but said the "forces against it were too great" for it to succeed.

Truss told the UK-based outlet that during her tenure she was "not given a realistic chance" to execute them rightly and admitted that she is not "blameless" for an early end to her leadership.

Liz Truss criticises Sunak's tax policies, explains the reason for her downfall

She blamed the "strength of economic orthodoxy and its influence on the market" and condemned Treasury officials for blindsiding her over the collapse of the pension market, which forced her resignation. Further calling Sunak's decision to increase corporation tax from 19 to 25 percent "economically detrimental," Truss went on to say she wanted to stay in power to change things, not to "manage decline or preside over our country sliding into stagnation."

She told the UK outlet that during her tenure, senior officials had warned her of economic turbulence that would leave the country unable to fund its debt. "I still believe that seeking to deliver the original policy prescription on which I had fought the leadership election was the right thing to do," she said. "But the forces against it were too great." "I am not claiming to be blameless in what happened, but fundamentally I was not given a realistic chance to enact my policies by a very powerful economic establishment, coupled with a lack of political support," she added.

She further stressed that no one in the cabinet or outside it highlighted any risks related to pension funds. "At no point during any of the preparations for the mini-Budget had any concerns about liability-driven investments (LDIs) and the risk they posed to bond markets been mentioned at all to me, the Chancellor, or any of our teams by officials at the Treasury," she said.

The former Prime Minister further stated that it was not only domestic economic orthodoxy she was facing but that her attempt to challenge "high-spend, high-tax" policies and "swim against the international tide" forced her resignation. Pointing fingers at US President Joe Biden and the IMF, she said, "There was a concerted effort by international actors to challenge our plan for growth." She added, "The IMF commented on distributional aspects rather than market stability, which is hard to conclude was anything but politically motivated."

"Then there was the intervention from President Biden, who publicly voiced his disagreement with our economic policy, stating, "I wasn’t the only one that thought it was a mistake," Truss added.

Truss resigned from her post after just 44 days in office, making her the only British Prime Minister to serve a short period in the history of Britain. The 47-year-old tory leader had won the election last year after promising to enact a low tax, high growth agenda, but after her mini-Budget, the value of the pound came down and the Bank of England was forced to make an emergency intervention to stabilise the turmoil. 

Image: AP