After a keynote speech from Liz Truss at the Institute for Government, in which she downplayed the absolute mess she made of the UK economy and harm caused to those who pay mortgages, we asked our economics contributors to offer up their response to the failed former prime minister.
Richard Murphy
Liz Truss’s speech at the Institute of Government was a soaring success in three ways. It showed us just how out of touch with reality she is. It demonstrated how crazy the Tories are, because they voted her as their leader. And it showed that any similar coup will be deeply dangerous for the people of this country.
Truss revealed her deep love of a form of economics that is built on the assumption that we are all automatons living on an infinite planet where global warming cannot happen.
And she simultaneously revealed her contempt for the only thing she really knows anything about, which is government and what it can do for people, albeit in the right hands.
The detail of anything else is almost irrelevant. She hates us, democracy, government and anything government can do, and believes that anything that cannot be bought or sold has no value.
Truss must live a miserable, hateful existence. But at least we have been saved from it.
George Kerevan
Truss is right on one thing: British/Scottish economic growth since the 2008 banking crisis is below that of our competitors.
But that’s not because UK taxes are high – they’re higher in France which has better productivity, better pensions and a better standard of living.
It’s what you spend public money on that counts. The incompetent Tories have wasted bundles on HS2, replacing Trident and useless Covid contracts awarded to cronies.
Truss would add to this by forcing up interest rates even higher while cutting welfare. Instead Scotland needs better mid-level tech skills and more investment in actually making things.
William Thomson, Scotonomics
We must not forget that the Scottish Government came under pressure from the media and from opposition politicians in Scotland to mirror the tax reductions included in Truss's mini-budget. The universal outcry we see today is rewriting history.
In truth, Truss’s complaint is that the current orthodoxy that grips Westminster is not orthodox enough. The Bank of England spoke out about £45 billion in tax cuts to the wealthy but has since Truss’s budget paid out almost £100bn in interest payments to the same people. Shaking the orthodoxy has a long way to go.
READ MORE: The National and Scotonomics launch FREE economics newsletter
Truss was trying to accelerate the economy at the same time as the Bank of England was trying to slow it down. This was the reason the economy swerved off the road. If Truss had the personality and arrogance of Boris Johnson, she would have been able to bully the Bank of England into following her wishes.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel