FORMER prime minister Liz Truss was met by sweeping queues at the Tory party conference as she called for ministers to “make Britain grow again” with a raft of tax cuts.
Almost a year after she was forced out of office after crashing the economy and losing the support of MPs, Truss rallied the still supportive Tory membership at the fringes of the conference in Manchester.
Nigel Farage was among those in attendance and there were cheers from those who managed to make it into the room when they were reminded by Truss that she was elected by party activists – while Rishi Sunak was elected on MPs' votes alone.
Truss urged members to “unleash their inner conservative” after calling for corporation tax to be cut to 19% at least and to slash government spending.
“Let’s stop taxing and banning things,” she told the packed room.
“Let’s instead build things and make things. Let’s be prepared to make conservative arguments again, even if it’s unpopular, even if it’s difficult. I want everybody in this room to unleash their inner conservative.
“And finally, my friends, let’s make Britain grow again.”
The fringe event attracted hundreds of people, with the room quickly reaching full capacity, leaving many outside.
Adam Kent, a councillor at Worcestershire county council was one of the many Tory members queuing. He told the PA news agency: “I am interested in hearing the ideas of Liz Truss. I agree with a lot of the sentiment and the messaging … what she got wrong is the timing.”
Taran Hare, a Tory member from Leeds, echoed Kent’s claims, saying: “I support the ideas but I don’t like how drastic it was. The sudden change at the mini budget was not conservative. But she has the core values at heart.”
Norma Bodtger from Hampshire, another Tory member, said she was disappointed she could not get inside the event, adding: “I like her.”
She went on: “Not sure if she should be prime minister. But I think she had the wrong people around her and that it was not the right time for her.”
On Prime Minister Sunak, she said: “If you had asked me last week whether I liked him I would have said no. But I have seen a big improvement and I am prepared to give him a chance.”
Truss said 500,000 homes a year need to be built, suggesting environmental protections could be torn up to encourage building, and called for ministers to permit fracking.
Truss also praised GB News, saying: "In my view, we need more economics journalism and we need more GB News challenging the orthodoxy, broadcasting common sense and transforming our media landscape so long may it continue."
She was joined at the “Great British Growth Rally” by allies and former cabinet colleagues Priti Patel, Jacob Rees-Mogg and Ranil Jayawardena.
Rees-Mogg (below) continued the tax-cutting, deregulating motif, also calling for tariffs and checks to be slashed to boost trade.
“I want hormone injected beef from Australia", he said as he called for cheaper food.
“I’ve eaten beef in Australia, it was absolutely delicious, there’s nothing wrong with it and they should be allowed to export it here because we want lower costs.”
