Speaking at the final day of the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, the prime minister Liz Truss has said “you can trust me to do the right thing”.
In her first Conference speech as prime minister, she has vowed to lead the UK “through the tempest” and “get Britain moving”, saying that despite the challenges the UK faces, “we have your back”.
Signalling possible upheaval to come, she said “whenever there is change, there is disruption” – adding that not everyone would be in favour of her plans, but that everyone would benefit.
Turning her attention to the decision to scrap plans to abolish the 45p top rate of income tax earlier this week, Liz Truss said that the measure had become a “distraction from the major parts of our growth plan”.
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She said, “I get it and I have listened.”
The Prime Minister then said that she is a firm believer in “sound money” and a “lean state” and that her plans to boost economic growth will ensure the nation can “afford great public services”.
However, her speech was unexpectedly interrupted. Greenpeace protesters holding a flag which read “who voted for this?” stood up and shouted their slogan. The flag was snatched from them promptly and they were ejected from the main hall after heckling Truss as she delivered her address.
Following the protest, the prime minister laughed as received raucous applause. She joked: “Later on in my speech I am going to talk about the anti-growth coalition, I think they arrived in the hall a bit early.”
Promptly returning to the thrust of her speech, Truss highlighted her plans to cut taxes. The Prime Minister said that “high taxes mean you feel it is less worthwhile working that extra hour”.
A theme that recurred during the speech was the idea of giving the UK people autonomy to make fiscal decisions. She said she is “not going to tell you what to do or what to think or how to live your life” and that she “believes that you [the British public] are able to make the best decisions”.
Turning to Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine, Liz Truss said that the UK will support Kyiv for “however long it takes”. The Prime Minister said that she believes Ukraine “will win”.
The song of choice for the PM to enter the stage before her speech was ‘Moving on Up’, M People’s number two hit from 1993.
Mike Pickering, who founded the band and co-wrote the song, tweeted to say he disapproved of the use of his song and was “so sad it got used by this shower of a government”.
So apparently we can’t stop Truss walking out to our song, very weird! So sad it got used by this shower of a government. BTW Truss labour used it with permission in 90’s. I don’t want my song being a soundtrack to lies.— Michael Pickering (@themike_p) October 5, 2022
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