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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Ashley Cowburn & Ben Glaze

11 key moments from chaos-hit Liz Truss's short speech to Tory conference

Liz Truss hinted at more "disruption" and conceded the scale of the challenge facing the country is "immense" in her first conference speech as Tory leader.

The address was just under 35 minutes in length - briefly interrupted by environmental activists - making it the shortest in-person conference speech by a Tory prime minister in recent history.

The PM used her speech to hit out at the "anti-growth coalition" - a term she used to collectively describe pretty much all her political opponents.

She also shared her memories of low growth while growing up in Leeds and Paisley, and continued to push her tax-cutting agenda - despite a major backlash.

Here The Mirror looks at the key moments from her speech.

Moving on Up

After a chaotic Tory conference, the party engaged in civil war, and a huge poll lead for Keir Starmer's Labour Party, the embattled Prime Minister chose M People's 1993 hit Moving on Up for her entrance on to the stage.

Singer Heather Small's son rapidly pointed out, the choice of song, which includes the lyrics "you've done me wrong, your time is up", was "apt".

"This tired and out of touch Tory Government is indeed moving on out," he added.

Stormy days

The PM vowed to get the country "through the tempest", but faced "stormy days" amid the cost-of-living crisis, the war in Ukraine and the recent death of Queen Elizabeth II.

"In these tough times, we need to step up," she added. "I'm determined to get Britain moving, to get us through the tempest and put us on a stronger footing as a nation".

"Who voted for this?"

The Prime Minister's speech was briefly interrupted by two Greenpeace protesters holding a yellow banner with the words: "Who voted for this?"

The Tory faithful stood in ovation and shouted "go on Liz, go on Liz!" to get her to carry on. The activists were quickly ejected by security.

Afterwards, Greenpeace accused the Prime Minister of "shredding her party's 2019 manifesto promises". They added: "The PM is U-turning on fracking, strong climate action, and world-leading environmental protections".

"I have listened"

In a nod to the humiliating U-turn that overshadowed the beginning of the Tories' annual conference, the Prime Minister told delegates her plan to cut tax for the richest Brits "became a distraction".

Cabinet ministers watch on as the PM delivers her speech (REUTERS)

She told members: "The fact is the abolition of the 45p tax rate became a distraction from the major parts of our growth plan. That is why we are no longer proceeding it. I get it and I have listened".

But her U-turn may have come too late. Just before she took to the stage YouGov released a poll suggesting Ms Truss is already more unpopular than her predecessor Boris Johnson or former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ever were.

Slava Ukrani

The former Foreign Secretary got perhaps the loudest applause - and a standing ovation - for her comments on Ukraine, telling delegates: "We are working with our friends and allies to support Ukraine in the face of Putin's war".

"We should not give in to those who want a deal which trades away Ukrainian land. They are proposing to pay in Ukrainian lives for the illusion of peace. We will stand with our Ukrainian friends however long it takes.

"Ukraine can win, Ukraine must win and Ukraine will win."

Comprehensive claim

To applause Ms Truss told party members: "I stand here today as the first Prime Minister of our country to have gone to a comprehensive school".

"That taught me two things: one is that we have huge talent across our country and two that we're not making enough of it."

Liz Truss with her husband Hugh O'Leary following her speech to Tory members (Getty Images)

But the claim has raised eyebrows, with former Tory PM Theresa May's official government biography reading: "Theresa had a varied education, spanning both the state and private sectors and attending grammar school and comprehensive school".

Questioned about the other leaders who went to state schools, the PM's press secretary said: "My understanding is this is quite complicated and it changed halfway through and comps weren't actually called comps until the 60s or something like that.

'Anti-growth coalition'

The PM also used her conference speech to hit out at what she described as the "anti-growth coalition" - and it turned out to be quite a varied group.

"Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP, the militant unions, the vested interests dressed up as think-tanks, the talking heads, the Brexit deniers and Extinction Rebellion and some of the people we had in the hall earlier," she told members.

Protesters held up a banner in the conference hall before being ushered out (REUTERS)

"The fact is they prefer protesting to doing. They prefer talking on Twitter to taking tough decisions. They taxi from north London townhouses to the BBC studio to dismiss anyone challenging the status quo."

Responding to the comments, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon hit back: "Ranting about an imaginary ‘anti growth coalition’ is just an attempt to obscure the hard reality that the biggest brake on UK growth is Brexit - and that’s on the Tories."

'European judges'

Fresh laws to sideline European judges will be brought forward, Liz Truss announced to delighted activists. The Prime Minister said: “Our brilliant new Home Secretary will be bringing forward legislation to make sure that no European judge can overrule us.”

The revelation comes amid growing anger among Conservatives grassroots over a decision by the European Court of Human Rights which blocked the deportation of Channel migrants to Rwanda.

Ministers insist they will press ahead with the controversial plan. Home Secretary Suella Braverman earlier told a conference fringe she would "love to be here claiming victory, I would love to be having a front page of the Telegraph with a plane taking off to Rwanda, that's my dream, that's my obsession".

Housing

The PM drew battle lines with backbench Conservative MPs and shire Tories as she vowed to build more homes.

Successive Tory PMs have tried and failed to railroad through plans to increase the number of houses constructed on greenfields, but she insisted: “We will make it easier to build homes.”

Boris Johnson was forced to abandon a planned overhaul of planning laws after a major rebellion. She said: “Over the coming weeks, my team of ministers will set out more about what we are going to do to get Britain moving.”

Bigger slice of pie

Food products once again played a major role in a Liz Truss party conference speech.

In 2014, the then Environment Secretary was widely mocked for her address to the Tory grassroots where she railed against the amount of cheese Britain imported, saying: “That. Is. A. Disgrace.”

Moments later, she beamed as she revealed she would be “opening up new pork markets”.

On Wednesday, pie was on the menu in Birmingham as she spoke about her plan to grow the economy. “For too long, the political debate has been dominated by the argument about how we distribute a limited economic pie,” she moaned. “Instead, we need to grow the pie so that everyone gets a bigger slice.”

A 'new era' for Britain - after 12 years of Tory rule

Concluding her speech to the party conference, Ms Truss attempted to the claim the Conservatives are the "only party with a clear plan to get Britain moving".

She added: "Together, we can unleash the full potential of our great country. That is how we will build a new Britain for a new era."

Liz Truss goes through her keynote speech on the eve of delivering it to the Conservative Party Conference (Andrew Parsons CCHQ / Parsons Media)

Other ministers, including chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, have used similar phrases in recent weeks. But Labour were keen to point out the PM's longevity in government.

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: " Liz Truss has been a government minister for the last 10 years. She has been at the heart of building a Conservative economy that has led to the flat wages and low growth she highlighted today."

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