Liz Truss’s campaign has U-turned on its original plan to cut public sector pay outside of London.
It comes after the plan received significant criticism from other MP’s, unions and the general public.
A spokesperson for Liz Truss’s campaign has claimed there had been “wilful misrepresentation” of the 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.
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The spokesperson stated that:
“Over the last few hours there has been a wilful misrepresentation of our campaign.
The current levels of public sector salaries will be maintained.
Any suggestion to the contrary is simply not true.
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.”
This statement has been criticised, especially by Rishi Sunak-supporting MPs. The Conservative former chief whip and Sunak supporter, Mark Harper said that Liz Truss should “stop blaming journalists” in response to the spokesperson’s mentioning of a “wilful misrepresentation of our campaign”.
Meanwhile, Andrew Bridgen, Conservative MP for North West Leicestershire said “we need a Prime Minister who is a political signpost not a weathervane”.
By contrast, Truss supporting Fay Jones MP, said, “Sensible move to u-turn and scrap these
proposals”
Opposition parties have been quick on the bandwagon for the Truss U.Turn.
Emily Thornberry, Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, has tweeted this regarding Liz Truss’ u-turn on her flagship policy of cutting public sector pay outside of London:
Having spent 18 months shadowing Liz Truss, the idea of her not realising what she’s signed up to is not exactly novel: the freeports fiasco, the shipbuilding blunder, the list goes on. After all, this is the minister who writes TL;DR with dead eye emojis on policy submissions….— Emily Thornberry (@EmilyThornberry) August 2, 2022
Ed Davey, Lib Dem leader agrees. He accused Liz Truss of running her leadership campaign with “incompetence”.
He spoke out about the policy change:
“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.”
Rishi Sunak, Liz Truss and others will participate in the next televised discussion on Sky News on 4 August.
Before that, they will embark on their third members’ hustings in Cardiff on 3rd August to decide which of the contenders will succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister.
Liz Truss remains the favorite book-maker, however, perceived campaign missteps may still be an influence in the contest.
There are signs of a counter narrative developing in terms of the size of Liz Truss’ potential lead with party members. Rishi Sunak polls better among Conservative members in the South of England than anywhere else. This membership cohort will likely be decisive as nearly three fifths of Conservative members live and work in London and the South East.
