BackUK PM Liz Truss says should have 'laid the ground better' for tax cuts
Liz Truss also acknowledged that her cabinet of top ministers was not informed in advance that the government planned to abolish the top rate of tax, adding it was a decision taken by finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng.
PremiumUK British Prime Minister Liz Truss said that she should have done more to lay the ground better for her plan for economic growth to try to minimise market reaction, which saw the pound hit record lows and government borrowing costs soar.
At the Conservative Party's annual conference, Truss, in power for less than a month, adopted a softer tone by trying to reassure the public she would look after them during a difficult winter and beyond.
However, she stood by her "growth plan" that investors and economists have criticised for setting out billions of pounds of additional spending while offering very few details on how it would be paid for in the short term.
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"I understand their worries about what has happened this week," she told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show.
"I do stand by the package we announced, and I stand by the fact that we announced it quickly because we had to act, but I do accept that we should have laid the ground better," she said.
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She also acknowledged that her cabinet of top ministers was not informed in advance that the government planned to abolish the top rate of tax, adding it was a decision taken by finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng.
When she was asked whether all of her cabinet were told of the planned scrapping, she said, "No, we didn't, this was a decision that the chancellor made." "When budgets are developed, they are developed in a very confidential way."
The UK government unveiled a 45 billion-pound ($48 billion) package of tax cuts in an effort to spur economic growth. But the plan wasn’t accompanied by spending cuts, or even an independent cost estimate, raising concerns that it would swell government debt and add to inflation that is already running at close to a 40-year high of 9.9 percent.
“I believe in getting value for money for the taxpayer," she said. Asked if she is committed to cutting the top rate of income tax, she replied: “Yes."
(With inputs from agencies)
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