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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Léonie Chao-Fong

Liz Truss criticised for claiming public sector pay pledge was misrepresented – as it happened

Liz Truss Whitehall Nicola Sturgeon Angela Rayner Civil Service John Swinney Jacob ReesMogg Lorna Slater Scotland
Liz Truss speaks during a Tory leadership hustings event in Exeter on Monday evening where she vowed to cut civil service salaries and reduce expenditure
Liz Truss speaks during a Tory leadership hustings event in Exeter on Monday evening where she vowed to cut civil service salaries and reduce expenditure Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

Summary

We are closing this blog now. Here’s a summary of today’s events:

  • Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss was forced to U-turn on plans to cut civil service pay outside London. The announcement, made at midday, marked the first major gaffe for Truss, who is the favourite to win the race.
  • Truss’s U-turn came after her plans were met with a furious outcry from Conservative MPs and the Conservative Tees Valley mayor, Ben Houchen, who said there was no way the figure could be achieved without pay cuts outside London that would hit levelling up.
  • A spokesperson for Truss’s leadership campaign said there had been a “wilful misrepresentation of our campaign” – without giving specifics – but confirmed she was abandoning plans for regional pay boards for civil servants or public sector workers.
  • But sources in Rishi Sunak’s camp said Truss has previously called for lower pay outside of the south-east when she was chief secretary to the Treasury in 2018.
  • The gaffe came as a new poll showed that Rishi Sunak has narrowed the gap with Truss in the Conservative party leadership race, with the foreign secretary leading by only five points.
  • Truss also came under fire for describing Nicola Sturgeon as an “attention seeker” who ought to be ignored. John Swinney, the deputy first minister, said Scottish voters would be “absolutely horrified” by Truss’s “obnoxious” remarks, made during a Conservative leadership hustings in Exeter on Monday evening.
  • Jeremy Corbyn has urged western countries to stop arming Ukraine, and claimed he was criticised over antisemitism because of his stance on Palestine. Corbyn made the comments in a TV interview likely to underscore Keir Starmer’s determination not to readmit him to the Labour party.

Thanks for following along with us. You can read all our politics here.

Updated

A group of 10 Scottish Tory MPs and MSPs have announced their support for Rishi Sunak, a day after nine Tory MSPs said they would be backing his rival, Liz Truss, for the party’s leadership.

Those supporting Sunak’s leadership bid include the former Scottish Conservative leader, Jackson Carlaw, as well as MPs John Lamont and Andrew Bowie. MSPs Maurice Golden, Jeremy Balfour, Miles Briggs, Dean Lockhart, Donald Cameron, Alexander Stewart and Liz Smith also backed the former chancellor.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the group played up Sunak’s electability, which they claim would stop a deal between the SNP and Labour that would secure a second independence referendum.

Both Keir Starmer and the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, have insisted they will not form a coalition or agreement with the SNP after the next general election.

The group of Tories from Scotland said:

A Labour-SNP pact would put the future of the UK at risk and would give the nationalists licence to divide Scotland all over again with a second independence referendum.

We cannot allow that to happen, and the polls consistently show that Rishi is the candidate most likely to win the next general election and put a stop to any dodgy backroom deal.

They went on to say that Sunak has a plan to “kick the SNP government out of office”.

The article in the Telegraph came out a day after nine Tory MSPs announced their support for Truss in the Times.

Updated

Truss repeats claim her public sector pay plan was 'misrepresented'

After she was forced to abandon a flagship policy to slash civil service pay outside London, Liz Truss has now said people were “unnecessarily worried” about her plans for regional pay boards.

She told the BBC in Dorset:

I’m afraid that my policy on this has been misrepresented. I never had any intention of changing the terms and conditions of teachers and nurses.

But what I want to be clear about is I will not be going ahead with the regional pay boards, that is no longer my policy.

She added:

I’m being absolutely honest, I’m concerned that people were worried, unnecessarily worried about my policies and therefore I’m being clear that the regional pay boards will not be going ahead.

As we reported earlier, Sunak’s camp has argued that the move was no mistake, pointing out that Truss had called for it when she was chief secretary to the Treasury in 2018.

Updated

The former health secretary Matt Hancock has described Liz Truss’s plan to cut pay for civil servants or public sector workers as a “bad idea”.

Hancock, who is backing Rishi Sunak’s leadership bid, said cutting public sector pay for workers outside of London was “levelling DOWN not levelling UP”.

He added:

We need to support public servants - including civil servants - who work hard for us all.

Updated

Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley who earlier said he was “speechless” at Liz Truss’s plan to cut public sector pay in less expensive parts of the country, has described the Tory leadership hopeful’s proposal as “horrifically bad”.

Houchen, who is backing Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest, told BBC Radio 4’s World At One programme:

It is just a huge misstep and I’m just pleased that she’s realised it and has backtracked and has decided that this isn’t going to happen moving forward.

He added:

Is it a moment – I’m not entirely sure, it might be – we might look back in four or five weeks’ time and this could be Liz’s ‘dementia tax’ moment. It very easily could be, but it’s to be seen.

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn has urged western countries to stop arming Ukraine, and claimed he was criticised over antisemitism because of his stance on Palestine, in a TV interview likely to underscore Keir Starmer’s determination not to readmit him to the Labour party.

Corbyn said:

Pouring arms in isn’t going to bring about a solution, it’s only going to prolong and exaggerate this war. We might be in for years and years of a war in Ukraine.

Corbyn gave the interview on Al Mayadeen, a Beirut-based TV channel that has carried pro-Russia reporting since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Read the full article by my colleague, Heather Stewart:

Mike Clancy, the general secretary of the Prospect union, has responded to Liz Truss’s backtracking on her flagship policy to introduce regional pay boards for public sector workers.

If Liz Truss believes public sector workers are at the bedrock of society, she needs to call off the attack dogs from her own side and start working with unions and others to give the public the support and services we need.

The British public are in a fragile place trying to cope with endless waves of rising prices and falling wages.

It is time ministers put the national interest before that of their own leadership ambition.

Updated

The numbers crossing the Channel to seek refuge in the UK hit a record for the year so far on Monday, as Border Force staff braced themselves for thousands more arrivals this summer.

The Ministry of Defence said that 696 made the journey in 14 small boats on Monday. It followed 460 arrivals on Saturday and 247 on Friday, with more than 1,000 people crossing last week.

In July, 3,683 people crossed from France. The total for this year is believed to be more than 17,000.

The figures came amid reports of growing concern over plans to stem the number of boats carrying asylum seekers across the Channel.

Updated

A source has told Jessica Elgot, the Guardian’s chief politics reporter, that Liz Truss has previously called for lower pay outside of the south-east.

More Labour frontbenchers are ridiculing Liz Truss’s now abandoned policy to cut public sector pay outside London.

Anneliese Dodds MP has tweeted the following:

Updated

Labour’s Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry has tweeted this regarding Liz Truss’s U-turn on her flagship policy of cutting public sector pay outside London.

Updated

Liz Truss criticised by former Tory chief whip for claiming public sector pay pledge was misrepresented

The Conservative former chief whip, Mark Harper, a supporter of Rishi Sunak, said Liz Truss should “stop blaming journalists” after a spokesperson for the Tory leadership hopeful said there had been a “wilful misrepresentation of our campaign”.

Updated

The Lib Dem leader, Ed Davey, has accused Liz Truss of running her leadership campaign with “incompetence” after the Tory leadership hopeful was forced to U-turn on plans to cut civil service pay outside London.

Davey said:

U-turning on a multibillion-pound policy five weeks before even taking office must be a new record.

We can’t let Liz Truss run the country with the same incompetence she’s running her leadership campaign. The British people must have their say in a general election.

Earlier today, Davey described Truss’s plan for regional pay boards as “callous, incompetent and ridiculous”.

Updated

Sources in Rishi Sunak’s leadership camp say Liz Truss has been pushing for a public sector pay cut since 2018, following her decision to abandon the policy after a furious outcry from Conservative MPs and the Tees Valley mayor.

Truss has suggested in the past that public sector workers outside London and the south-east should receive lower pay rises.

From my colleague Aubrey Allegretti:

Updated

Truss campaign U-turns on plan to cut public sector pay outside London

A spokesperson for Liz Truss’s campaign has claimed there had been “wilful misrepresentation” of the Tory leadership candidate’s public sector pay cut plan.

There would be “no proposal taken forward on regional pay boards for civil servants or public sector workers”, they said.

The spokesperson said:

Over the last few hours there has been a wilful misrepresentation of our campaign.

Current levels of public sector pay will absolutely be maintained.

Anything to suggest otherwise is simply wrong.

Our hard-working frontline staff are the bedrock of society and there will be no proposal taken forward on regional pay boards for civil servants or public sector workers.

Updated

Simon Hart, the Conservative MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, has spoken out against Liz Truss’s plan to cut pay for public sector workers.

Hart, who served as secretary of state for Wales, said Truss’s plan would be levelling down and that Wales would be worst hit, “with 430,000 workers including police officers & armed forces facing a near £3000 pay cut”.

Updated

The Brexit opportunities minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has accused Rishi Sunak of unveiling the “greatest fairytale” policy with a proposal to slash income tax within seven years.

Rees-Mogg, a prominent supporter of Liz Truss’s leadership bid, said Sunak’s pledge to cut the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 16p by 2029 was a “fantasy”.

He told Sky News:

I think suggesting there will be income tax cuts many, many years into the future is the finest fantasy.

He also highlighted the former chancellor’s role in the Johnson government which raised taxes to the highest level for 70 years to help cover the cost of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.

He told Times Radio:

Governments don’t work unless the chancellor and the prime minister work hand in glove, and he had a very strong responsibility to work hand in glove with the prime minister.

That’s where his proposal to cut VAT by 5% on domestic fuel and get it to zero is so surprising, because he was very strongly opposing that when the prime minister was suggesting it. To then come up with it now is surprising, let’s just leave it at that.

Meanwhile, Rees-Mogg admitted he was wrong to say there would be no delays at the port of Dover caused by the UK leaving the EU.

In a radio interview with LBC, he said:

Yes, of course I got it wrong, but I got it wrong for the right reason, if I may put it that way.

He added:

The point I was making was that the only delays would be caused by the French if they decided not to allow British people to pass through freely. They have decided to do that.

Updated

Simon Hoare, the Conservative MP for North Dorset, has described Liz Truss’s plan as “nonsense” and a kick in the teeth for public sector workers living outside of London.

From PoliticsHome’s Adam Payne:

Updated

Here’s some more Conservative reaction to plans by Liz Truss to slash £8.8bn from public sector pay outside London.

Chris Clarkson, the MP for Heywood and Middleton and a supporter of Rishi Sunak’s leadership bid, said Truss’s plan to link salaries to the cost of living where workers were employed would be unlikely get past focus groups.

Jacob Young, the MP for Redcar who is also backing Sunak’s bid, described the plan as a “bad idea” and called for Truss to row back from the plan urgently.

Steve Double, the MP for St Austell and Newquay, said Truss’s plan would be “hugely damaging” to public services in Cornwall.

Selaine Saxby, the MP for North Devon, said the plan would not help level up the south-west.

Richard Holden, the MP for North West Durham, also said the plan would “kill” the government’s levelling up programme.

Updated

Tory mayor ‘speechless’ at Truss’s plans to cut public sector pay

Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley, said he was “speechless” at Liz Truss’ plan to cut public sector pay in less expensive parts of the country.

Houchen, who is supporting Rishi Sunak’s leadership bid, said the plan would undo some of the “levelling up” work to boost regions such as Teesside.

Updated

Sunak closing gap on Truss in Tory leadership contest, poll shows

Rishi Sunak has narrowed the gap with Liz Truss in the Conservative party leadership race, with the foreign secretary leading by only five points in the latest poll of members.

The former chancellor’s campaign team have stressed in recent days that they were finding a much tighter race on the ground than the most recent YouGov poll suggested a fortnight ago, which gave Truss a 24-point lead.

The latest poll was conducted by Techne for a private client but data tables have been released for the poll of 807 Conservative members.

It comes after days of renewed momentum for Truss with a string of high-profile endorsements including Penny Mordaunt – a sign that ambitious ministers saw the race as sewn up.

Mordaunt, who was beaten by Truss to be Sunak’s challenger in the final stage of the leadership contest, said Truss was “the hope candidate”.

The endorsement came as a blow to Sunak after a bitter campaign during which supporters of Mordaunt blamed Truss for a damaging “blue-on-blue dogfight”.

Mordaunt was the latest in a number of new backers for Truss including the former leadership candidates Nadhim Zahawi and Tom Tugendhat, as well as the ex-cabinet minister Brandon Lewis and the West Midlands mayor, Andy Street.

Read the full article by my colleague, Jessica Elgot, here:

Updated

Truss comments on Sturgeon ‘deeply troubling’ and show 'total disrespect'

Scotland’s deputy first minister, John Swinney, said comments about Nicola Sturgeon by Liz Truss are “deeply troubling and concerning”.

People in Scotland, “whatever their politics, will be absolutely horrified by the obnoxious remarks that Liz Truss has made”, Swinney told the BBC.

Swinney told BBC’s Good Morning Scotland:

Nicola Sturgeon has far more democratic legitimacy than Liz Truss is going to have if she becomes the prime minister, and I think Liz Truss has absolutely no right or foundation to make these remarks.

Scotland’s health secretary, Humza Yousaf, described Truss’ comments as “petty jibes” but warned she was carrying out an “all-out assault on devolution”.

Lorna Slater, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said Truss has shown “total disrespect” to the first minister and “a contempt for everyone that voted for a pro-independence majority of MSPs in last year’s election”.

Slater added:

She knows that the democratic case for a referendum is unanswerable, so she would rather patronise us and ignore us.

Updated

Truss and allies launch attack on 'always moaning' Sturgeon

Liz Truss and her allies have received some backlash for comments made against Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, which could further strain the relationship between Westminster and Holyrood if the Tory leadership hopeful becomes the next prime minister.

At last night’s leadership hustings, Truss labelled Sturgeon an “attention-seeker” who should be ignored as she rejected the idea of another independence referendum.

Truss said:

What we need to do is show the people of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales what we’re delivering for them and making sure that all of our Government policies apply right across the United Kingdom.

Truss’s ally and Brexit opportunities minister, Jacob Rees-Mogg, doubled down on the attack this morning and said the Scottish National Party leader is “always moaning”.

Rees-Mogg said:

When she’s waffling on endlessly about having a referendum and going to the Supreme Court and all of this, we need to be saying ‘Hold on - you’re doing this because you’re failing to deliver for the people of Scotland, and the United Kingdom Government will have to deliver for the people of Scotland as well’.

Updated

Labour calls Liz Truss' £11bn 'war on Whitehall waste' a 'fantasy'

Good morning. Plans by Liz Truss, the foreign secretary and Tory leadership hopeful, to save billions a year with civil service cuts have been described as “ludicrous” and “a fantasy recipe for levelling down”.

Truss has vowed to cut civil service salaries and reduce expenditure to recoup £11bn a year in a “war on Whitehall waste” if she becomes prime minister.

In her announcement on Monday night, Truss revealed plans to move more civil servants out of London and to link their pay to living standards where they work. She also presented plans to slash civil service holiday entitlements.

Truss also promised to “tackle left-wing groupthink in government” and to scrap diversity and inclusion jobs, saying they “distract from delivering on the British people’s priorities”.

Truss said:

As prime minister I will run a leaner, more efficient, more focused Whitehall that prioritises the things that really matter to people and is laser-focused on frontline services.

There is “too much bureaucracy and stale groupthink” in Whitehall, she added.

But her campaign, which received another boost with the backing of Penny Mordaunt on Monday, was forced to redo some of its sums within hours of releasing a series of proposals to reduce the cost of the civil service.

Labour’s deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said Truss’s plans showed the Conservative government’s “commitment to levelling up is dead”. It would also reduce “the pay of Northerners, worsening the divide which already exists”, she added.

Rayner said:

Liz Truss is declaring war on herself with her fantasy recipe for levelling down.

This wannabe prime minister is stuck in the past, fighting old battles, and promising a race to the bottom on public sector workers’ pay and rights.

Trade unions and policy experts condemned the plans as unworkable and said Truss had dramatically exaggerated the potential savings that she claimed would amount to £11bn a year.

Alex Thomas, programme director at the Institute for Government, said:

The whole Civil Service pay bill is only about 9 billion. You’re not going to reduce the Civil Service pay bill to 200 million unless you pretty radically reshape the state.

He argued the “complicated and controversial” move would mean nurses and teachers being paid less or receiving slower pay rises than others, adding:

This is not war on Whitehall, it’s more like war on Workington.

Dave Penman, head of the FDA union, which represents senior civil servants, accused Truss of recycling “failed policies and tired rhetoric from the 1980s”.

He described her plan as out of the “P&O Ferries playbook” which would lead to cuts to “pay, terms and conditions”.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka warned Truss to expect opposition “every step of the way” if she becomes prime minister.

He said:

Civil servants are not a political tool to be used and abused for one person’s ambition; they are the hard-working people who keep the country running, day in day out, and they deserve respect.

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.30am: The Insolvency Service releases their quarterly insolvency figures

11:00am: The National Institute of Economic and Social Research releases their quarterly forecast

Morning: Liz Truss visits Devon ahead of another round of hustings

I’ll be covering for Andrew Sparrow today. Do drop me a line if you have any questions or think I’ve missed anything. My email is leonie.chao-fong@theguardian.com or you can reach me on Twitter.

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