This is a rare statement from a top politician. In a contrite interview with the BBC on Monday evening, the head of the British government, Liz Truss, repeated that she is “sorry” for her “mistakes”, believing that she wanted to go “too far too quickly”. Six weeks after Liz Truss arrived in Downing Street, her tenure appears moribund after a series of humiliating reversals of her campaign promises.
“I will stay in my post to keep my commitments for the national interest”, she assured, estimating that she would still be at the head of the party for the next elections scheduled in two years, where the opposition is arch -favorite. “I acted quickly to repair these errors”, launched Liz Truss to the address of her majority, where the maneuvers multiply behind the scenes to push her towards the exit.
His new finance minister Jeremy Hunt, who was hastily appointed on Friday after the market storm unleashed by his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng’s “growth plan”, now holds the helm of government after weeks of market chaos that have threatened the country’s financial stability.
On Monday, he unveiled the main lines of the medium-term budget project which must be presented in its entirety on October 31. Warning of “very harsh” decisions with future cuts in state spending and tax increases, a total disavowal of Liz Truss’s initial plan, Jeremy Hunt however assured that the government would make a priority of “the ‘aid to the most vulnerable’.
Shortest-term prime minister?
The presentation at the end of September of plans for massive tax cuts and colossal support for energy bills by Kwasi Kwarteng, not fully quantified and to be financed by borrowing, which had raised fears of a slippage in the public accounts.
The pound had fallen to an all-time low and long-term government borrowing rates had soared, undermining pension funds and pushing up borrowing rates for households and businesses, in an already struggling UK economy. dish.
The Bank of England had to intervene to prevent the situation from deteriorating into a financial crisis and the Monetary Fund had called for a course correction. With only 40 days in power, Liz Truss risks becoming the Prime Minister with the shortest term ever across the Channel.