Liz Truss spent the morning speaking to local BBC radio stations to insist her government’s economic policy is on the right course despite Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget prompting an emergency intervention from the Bank of England to prevent a run on pension funds, a slump in the value of the pound and a rise in the cost of government debt.
The prime minister said she was “prepared to take difficult decisions” and would not change policy, despite being repeatedly pressed by presenters, leading to criticism from many media commentators across the political spectrum, with one calling the interviews an “utter disaster” and another saying it was “the most brutal round of local radio interviews a prime minister has faced”.
Here is a roundup:
From the Observer’s Toby Helm:
Hearing Liz Truss speaking on local radio saying the mini budget is going according to plan in the face of terrifying evidence is unsustainable. Blind to reality, which was the problem in the first place
— Toby Helm (@tobyhelm) September 29, 2022
From the Mail on Sunday’s Dan Hodges:
Liz Truss currently sounds like a pre-recorded message telling you she's sorry the Government is out, but please call back later.
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) September 29, 2022
This is a terrible media round from Liz Truss. Robotic. Totally lacking in empathy. But it's also revealing the fundamental problem. The policy itself is utterly, completely and totally indefensible.
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) September 29, 2022
If you're just waking up, Liz Truss is a doing her regional broadcast round, and that sound you can hear is the Red Wall collapsing...
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) September 29, 2022
That was an utter disaster for Liz Truss. But there was no way it couldn't have been a disaster. There is nothing left to debate now. She either reverses course, or she gets wiped out politically. Those are the choices she faces.
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) September 29, 2022
From the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar:
Tough time on @BBCBristol - Truss asked about making bad situation worse & BoE stepping in to “clear up the mess”.
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) September 29, 2022
PM blames Putin & says it’s “right that govt takes action” but @jhansonradio points out market jitters were result of mini budget.
She even laughs at one point.
From Politics Home’s Alan White:
Truss really needs to spell out the long-term benefits of her plans in detail and show how people will be protected from e.g. home repossessions. She did neither this morning and the markets reacted accordingly
— Alan White (@aljwhite) September 29, 2022
From the Telegraph’s Jack Maidment:
Liz Truss insisted economic chaos is not confined to the UK and there are "stormy times" across the world.
— Jack Maidment (@jrmaidment) September 29, 2022
She refused to accept the mini-Budget had played any sort of role in the instability we have seen domestically since last Friday.
Safe to say a lot of people disagree.
Not sure why No 10 thought a regional radio round was a good idea.
— Jack Maidment (@jrmaidment) September 29, 2022
It was eight five-minute interviews in a row of Liz Truss being asked the same bruising questions over and over again.
One of the more brutal morning rounds I can remember.
From ITV’s Paul Brand:
I had the great job of doing these regional interviews with PMs ahead of conferences for years and I can’t remember a more brutal round for a Prime Minister. But Liz Truss is utterly doubling down.
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) September 29, 2022
From the Observer’s Sonia Sodha
My god this is gaslighting on a humongous scale.
— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) September 29, 2022
Her strategy just seems to be to pretend she’s living in an alternate reality. And to blame it all on the international situation.
— Sonia Sodha (@soniasodha) September 29, 2022
From the Times’ Steven Swinford:
Liz Truss broadcast round:
— Steven Swinford (@Steven_Swinford) September 29, 2022
* £45bn tax-cutting budget was 'right thing to do'
* Hits back at unfairness criticism. 'It's not fair to have a recession'
* Pitch based on counterfactual - bills would be higher, growth would be worse
* Says you can't rule out fracking in Lancs
From the i’s Paul Waugh:
This silence spoke volumes.
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) September 29, 2022
Truss: "Too often, tax policy has just been seen as being about redistribution. It's not. It's also about how we grow the size of the pie so that everyone can benefit "@johnacres48: "By borrowing more and putting our mortgages up."
Truss:..long pause
From the Guardian’s John Crace:
There's a job waiting for Liz Truss in an automated call centre
— John Crace (@JohnJCrace) September 29, 2022
From City AM’s Jack Mendel:
It's actually astonishing that Liz Truss is trying to claim this is a 'global problem', when her party spent five years of coalition blaming an actual global financial crash on the Labour Party [when Gordon Brown actually *saved* banks by bringing them into public ownership]
— Jack Mendel 🗞️ (@Mendelpol) September 29, 2022
From Byline Times’ Adam Bienkov:
That has to be the most brutal round of local radio interviews I've ever heard a Prime Minister face.
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) September 29, 2022
Not a single note of contrition from Liz Truss, or even the slightest indication she plans to change course in any way.
From the New Statesman’s Adrian Bradley:
genuinely believe Liz Truss would have been smarter to have done the Today programme this morning. It's much easier to waffle one 15 minute interview than 10 individually specialist ones with presenters that know their area way better than you do.
— Adrian Bradley (@adebradley) September 29, 2022
