Conservative leadership hopeful Liz Truss has claimed that the unresolved row with the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol shows how she “gets stuff done”.
The foreign secretary pointed to the current dispute over Brexit as an example of her delivery – despite her failure to reach a deal with Brussels on after several months of negotiations.
“I’ve shown I can get things done,’ she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “Whether it’s sorting out the issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol to make sure we deliver the full opportunities of Brexit, I can get stuff done.”
In her first full interview of the campaign, Ms Truss also shared her regret over her backing the Leave campaign in 2016 and claimed Brexit had been a success. “I fully embraced the choice the people of Britain made,” she said.
Reminded that she had predicted that Brexit would mean less trade, slashed investment and fewer jobs, Truss replied: “I was wrong and I’m fully prepared to admit I was wrong.”
The foreign secretary added: “The portents of doom didn’t happen. Instead, we’ve unleashed new opportunities. And I was one of the leading figures driving those opportunities.”
Ms Truss’s attempt to tear up parts of the Brexit withdrawal deal in defiance of the EU have moved closer to becoming law, after the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill cleared the Commons on Wednesday night.
But peers are expected to contest parts of the Bill, and leading figures in Brussels have warned in recent days that it could put the UK and the EU on course for a trade war.
Truss – the bookmakers’ favourite to be the next PM – also said she would “bulldoze” down opposition to her ideas and “take on the Whitehall machine”, as she positioned herself as more radical than rival Rishi Sunak.
“I think every day when I get up in the morning, ‘What can I do to change things?’” she said. “I’m impelled to do that. I am pretty hard working, pretty direct. And I will bulldoze through, frankly, the things that need to get done.”
Defending her plan to cut taxes immediately, Ms Truss also pledged to wage an ongoing battle the Treasury if she makes to No 10. “The Treasury do have an economic orthodoxy. They do resist change.”
The foreign secretary said Sunak had pushed Britain in the “wrong direction” on taxation, and she would swiftly axe his National Insurance rise if she becomes PM.
She admitted her plan to cut taxes would cost at least over £30bn a year. About if it would cost about £38bn, as some have estimated, Truss said: “I’d say that’s slightly high but it’s around that figure”
But she insisted tax cuts would boost growth, and rejected widespread warnings that her cuts would fuel inflation. “My tax cuts will decrease inflation … It’s not a gamble.”
Asked to name the leading economists who agreed with her approach to tax, she named the right-wing Brexiteer Patrick Minford.
Ms Truss also denied modelling herself on Margaret Thatcher. “I don’t accept that. I’m my own person. I’m from a different background.”
The Tory hopeful defended her backing for the Liberal Democrats as a student, saying her political views had “developed” over the years.
She also defended her loyalty to Boris Johnson in a later interview, telling GB News she wanted him to stay “Boris admitted he made mistakes,” she also told Today. “But the positive side of the balance sheet is extremely positive.”
Truss said she would be happy to serve under Sunak if he wins the Tory leadership contest. She also hinted at jobs for Sunak and rivals if she wins the race to No 10.
“We’ve had fantastic candidates present themselves, like Penny, Kemi, Tom Tugendhat and Rishi, and we need to make sure that those talents are being fully used,” she told GB News.
Truss and Sunak will try to win over the support of local politicians on Thursday morning when they take part in a private hustings for the Conservative Councillors’ Association.
They will then tour the UK to take part in 12 hustings for the Tory members who will vote for their next leader, with the result being announced on 5 September.
