US President Joe Biden has branded Liz Truss’s economic plan a “mistake” amid continued criticism of the Prime Minister’s policies.
Biden said it was “predictable” that Truss was forced to scale back on plans to aggressively cut taxes following the turmoil caused in global financial markets.
His comments come following the sacking of Kwasi Kwarteng as the UK’s chancellor.
Speaking to reporters at an ice cream shop in Oregon, Biden said the outcome of the mini-Budget was “predictable” and that he “wasn’t the only one who thought it was a mistake”.
Truss’s economic plan sent financial markets into chaos and caused a steep dive in the value of the pound.
President Biden on Liz Truss' mini budget. " it was predictable... I wasn't the only one who thought it was a mistake.... I disagreed with the policy of cutting taxes for the super wealthy" pic.twitter.com/5nTg9EQX1N
— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) October 16, 2022
Whilst he was still chancellor, Kwarteng was forced to U-turn on plans to scrap the 45p tax rate for top earners.
Asked about the fiscal policy, Biden explained that although he disagreed with the Prime Minister’s plan, it was ultimately up to the British people.
Biden said he was not concerned about the strength of the dollar, saying the US economy “is strong as hell […] I’m concerned about the rest of the world.
“The problem is the lack of economic growth and sound policy in other countries. It’s worldwide inflation, that’s consequential.”
Truss’s own new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has already said Truss and Kwarteng’s mini-Budget went “too far, too fast”.
He told Sky News: “It was a mistake when we’re going to be asking for difficult decisions across the board on tax and spending to cut the rate of tax paid by the very wealthiest.
“It was a mistake to fly blind and to do these forecasts without giving people the confidence of the Office of Budget of Responsibility saying that the sums add up”.
At a news conference in Downing Street on Friday, Truss dismissed calls for her resignation amid multiple reports of Tory MPs plotting moves to force her from office.
Truss said she is “absolutely determined to see through what I have promised”.
