Liz Truss has said she was never given a “realistic chance” by her party to deliver on its tax cut agenda.
In a 4,000-word article in the Sunday Telegraph, Ms Truss stood by her plans to boost economic growth, arguing they had been brought down by the “left-wing economic establishment”.
These are the first public comments the former prime minister has made on his resignation.
But he said he was not “blameless” for unraveling the mini-budget.
Ms Truss was forced to resign after she and her chancellor Kwasi Kwarting’s £45bn package of unfunded tax cuts sent panic into markets and sent the pound to a record low.
His short time in power – 49 days – made him the shortest-serving Prime Minister in UK history.
Ms Truss said that while her experience last autumn was “personally damaging for me”, she believed her policies would boost growth over the medium term and therefore reduce debt. .
He argued that the government was made a “scapegoat” for developments that had been ongoing for some time.
“Frankly, we were pushing the water too far. Large sections of the media and the wider public had become ignorant of the key arguments about tax and economic policy, and over time sentiment shifted to the left. were,” he wrote.
“Unfortunately, the government became a useful scapegoat for the problems that have been brewing for months.”
She also said she did not appreciate the strength of resistance she would face to her plans – including plans to scrap the 45p top rate of income tax.
“I assumed upon entering Downing Street that my mandate would be respected and accepted. How wrong I was. While I expected the system to resist my program, I Underestimated the range,” she writes.
Mr Kwarting abandoned the 45p income tax proposals 10 days after they were announced, telling JEE News it was “a massive distraction from a strong package”.
Less than a fortnight later, Ms Truss fired Mr Kwarting, who she said was “very upset”.
“Kwasi Kwarteng had put together a brave package that was truly transformative – he is an original thinker and a great advocate of conservative ideas. But at this point, it was clear that the policy agenda was unsustainable and my priority It was to be avoided. A serious setback for Britain,” he wrote.
With the benefit of hindsight, she writes that she would have done things differently during her premiership – but she still supports her plans for development.
