The result of the Conservative contest for PM won’t be known for sure until September 5, but with Foreign Secretary Truss the runaway favorite, POLITICO compiled every policy commitment Liz Truss has made during over 40 hours of hustings, as well as countless interviews and articles on the campaign trail. It is in effect the 149 separate policy pledges that make up the Truss manifesto.
To give you a flavour of what to expect from a Truss PM, Owl is posting “at a glance” summaries of some of these, about a third, in two parts:
Part One – The Economy
Part Two – Health and Social Care; Leveling up, housing and communities; Work and pensions
For other policy areas such as the Environment, Energy, Home Office and Transport please see www.politico.eu
Every pledge or promise made by the UK’s likely next prime minister during the leadership campaign.
Compiled by Noah Keate www.politico.eu
The Economy
POLICY: Deliver an emergency budget
DATE & PLATFORM:August 6, article
SHE SAID WHAT?
I would hit the ground running by bringing in an emergency budget, charting a firm course to get our economy growing in order to help fund our public services and NHS.The Daily Telegraph
POLICY: Scrap April’s National Insurance rise
DATE & PLATFORM:July 10, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Liz will reverse the 1.25 percent rise in National Insurance, which was introduced by leadership rival Rishi Sunak in April to help pay for health and social care. Liz 4 Leader
POLICY: Scrap corporation tax rise
DATE & PLATFORM: July 15, online Q&A
SHE SAID WHAT?
I would not do the corporation tax hikes because I think it’s vitally important that we’re attracting investment into our country.ConservativeHome
POLICY: Commits to introducing no new taxes
DATE & PLATFORM: August 31, leadership hustings in London
POLICY: Remove green energy levies from energy bills
DATE & PLATFORM: July 14, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
We do need to remove the green energy levy and find a better way of delivering our net zero targets because we’re hammering consumers but we’re also hammering businesses.Channel 4
POLICY: Provide support for cost of energy bills
DATE & PLATFORM: August 25, article
SHE SAID WHAT?
To those of you feeling the squeeze, my message is clear: I will ensure support is on its way and we get through these tough times.Daily Mail
POLICY: Oppose freeze in energy price cap
DATE & PLATFORM: August 20, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
But she dismissed Sir Keir Starmer’s call for a freeze on the energy price cap — dubbing it a “sticking plaster that will cost money, but isn’t actually addressing the root cause” of the problem.The Sun
POLICY: Oppose any further windfall tax on energy firms
DATE & PLATFORM: July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds
POLICY: Distances herself from spending cuts
DATE & PLATFORM: July 22, press briefing, Peterborough
SHE SAID WHAT?
I’m certainly not talking about public spending cuts.Press briefing
POLICY: A 10-year plan for the economy
DATE & PLATFORM: July 29, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
What I will do is lay out a 10-year plan for public service reform, and a 10-year plan to change Britain’s economic growth rate. We should be growing on average at 2.5 percent.ConservativeHome
POLICY: Pay off COVID debt over longer period
DATE & PLATFORM: July 14, leadership campaign launch
SHE SAID WHAT?
The way I see the COVID debt is it’s a one-off event … We should pay that debt off over a longer period of time.Campaign launch
POLICY: Only start paying off debt in 2025
DATE & PLATFORM: July 25, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
Under my plans, we would start paying down the debt in three years’ time.BBC
POLICY: Maintain Bank of England’s independence, but reassess its mandate
DATE & PLATFORM: July 17, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
I completely support the Bank of England’s independence … the last time the mandate was set was in 1997, in completely different times.ITV
POLICY: Review taxation of families and carers
DATE & PLATFORM: July 14, leadership campaign launch
SHE SAID WHAT?
We will review the taxation of families to ensure that people aren’t penalized for taking time out to care for children or elderly relatives.Campaign launch
POLICY: Review business rates
DATE & PLATFORM: August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
POLICY: Review inheritance tax
DATE & PLATFORM: July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds
POLICY: Review taxes for the self-employed
DATE & PLATFORM: August 20, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
If you’re self-employed, you don’t get the same benefits as being in a big company. You don’t get paid holidays, you didn’t get those benefits. So the tax system should reflect that more.The Sun
POLICY: Invest in struggling areas
DATE & PLATFORM: August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
SHE SAID WHAT?
What I would also do is change the Treasury rules about investment, so we’re putting more investment into the areas that don’t have it already, not the areas that do have it already.Leadership hustings, Birmingham
POLICY: Scrap all EU-derived regulation by the end of 2023
DATE & PLATFORM: July 22, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Liz Truss sets out her credentials as the “Brexit delivery” Prime Minister with a pledge to set a “sunset” deadline for every piece of EU-derived regulation, making sure all EU law is off the statute books by the end of 2023.Liz 4 Leader
POLICY: Deregulate insurance industry
DATE & PLATFORM: July 22, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
New regulation will be introduced to preserve the original goal of Solvency II – the protection of people’s investments – while unleashing billions of investment capital.Liz 4 Leader
POLICY: Deregulate the City
DATE & PLATFORM: August 5, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
But Truss does have the zeal of the convert when it comes to Brexit, talking about seizing the “opportunities” of Britain’s departure from the EU, including in deregulating the City.Financial Times
POLICY: Create new “Investment Zones” and liberalize freeports for growth
DATE & PLATFORM: July 24, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss’ government will work with local communities to identify sites ripe for redevelopment, with a preference for brownfield sites, and transform them into Investment Zones – or what have been coined “full fat freeports.”Liz 4 Leader
POLICY: Encourage workers back into offices
DATE & PLATFORM: August 5, leadership hustings in Eastbourne
SHE SAID WHAT?
I do think it is important that we get more people back into offices, because we need to make sure our town centers and city centers thrive.Leadership hustings, Eastbourne
POLICY: Resist a cashless society
DATE & PLATFORM: August 17, leadership hustings in Belfast