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Liz Truss defends tax-cutting goals as she bids farewell | Liz Truss defends tax-cutting goals as she bids farewell |
(32 minutes later) | |
Watch: Outgoing PM Liz Truss vows "brighter days lie ahead" | Watch: Outgoing PM Liz Truss vows "brighter days lie ahead" |
Watch: Outgoing PM Liz Truss vows "brighter days lie ahead" | Watch: Outgoing PM Liz Truss vows "brighter days lie ahead" |
Liz Truss has defended her lower-tax vision for the UK, before bowing out as the shortest-serving British prime minister ever. | |
In an unapologetic farewell speech, she urged her successor Rishi Sunak to be "bold" in a bid to boost the economy. | In an unapologetic farewell speech, she urged her successor Rishi Sunak to be "bold" in a bid to boost the economy. |
She said the UK "cannot afford" for government spending to take up an "increasing share of our national wealth". | She said the UK "cannot afford" for government spending to take up an "increasing share of our national wealth". |
And she insisted "brighter days lie ahead" for the UK. | And she insisted "brighter days lie ahead" for the UK. |
Flanked by her husband and children, Ms Truss said she would be go back to being a backbench MP for her South West Norfolk constituency. | Flanked by her husband and children, Ms Truss said she would be go back to being a backbench MP for her South West Norfolk constituency. |
Mr Sunak will take power later, after he is formally appointed by the King following his victory in the Conservative leadership contest. | Mr Sunak will take power later, after he is formally appointed by the King following his victory in the Conservative leadership contest. |
The prime minister who resigned after just 45 days | The prime minister who resigned after just 45 days |
We need stability and unity, next PM Sunak says | We need stability and unity, next PM Sunak says |
Liz Truss's last speech as prime minister in full | |
Ms Truss announced her resignation last week after just 45 days in office, after big tax cuts in a hastily-assembled mini-budget prompted financial turmoil. | Ms Truss announced her resignation last week after just 45 days in office, after big tax cuts in a hastily-assembled mini-budget prompted financial turmoil. |
After initially defending her agenda, she later abandoned almost all of it in a bid to calm markets but saw support from her own MPs ebb away. | After initially defending her agenda, she later abandoned almost all of it in a bid to calm markets but saw support from her own MPs ebb away. |
But she struck a defiant tone in her speech in Downing Street, adding: "I'm more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and confront the challenges we face. | But she struck a defiant tone in her speech in Downing Street, adding: "I'm more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and confront the challenges we face. |
"We simply cannot afford to be a low-growth country where the government takes up an increasing share of our national wealth." | |
Quoting the Roman philosopher Seneca, she added: "It's not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it's because we do not dare that they are difficult." | |
She also pointed to her reversal of April's National Insurance rise and her plan to limit energy rises as examples of successes during her short time in office. | She also pointed to her reversal of April's National Insurance rise and her plan to limit energy rises as examples of successes during her short time in office. |
She also urged Mr Sunak to continue British support for Ukraine, adding the country "must prevail" in its "brave fight against [Vladimir] Putin's aggression". | She also urged Mr Sunak to continue British support for Ukraine, adding the country "must prevail" in its "brave fight against [Vladimir] Putin's aggression". |
Ms Truss's delivered her farewell speech in front of husband Hugh O'Leary and daughters Frances and Liberty | |
Her departure brings to an end a turbulent and at times chaotic premiership, marked in its final days by a series of humiliating policy reversals. | |
Her initial pick as chancellor, close ally Kwasi Kwarteng, delivered a mini-budget only weeks after taking office in which he announced the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years. | |
The plans, which had not been assessed by the government's fiscal watchdog, spooked investors and led to a steep rise in the cost of UK government debt. | |
Ms Truss, who had argued during her Tory leadership bid that the UK tax burden had held back economic growth, at first defended her approach but later fired Mr Kwarteng. | |
His replacement as chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, then abandoned almost all of the tax cuts in a bid to stabilise the financial markets. | |
The move was welcomed by investors but badly undermined Ms Truss's political credibility, and she faced calls to quit from her own MPs. | |
Her successor Mr Sunak, the UK's third leader in seven weeks, now faces the task of steering the UK through a period of economic crisis marked by low growth and high inflation. | |
He is expected to begin appointing his cabinet later and deliver a speech sketching out a vision for his time in office. | |
In a truncated four-day contest to replace Ms Truss as Tory leader, he has now made any new policy commitments, or given any speeches or media interviews. |