Defiant Liz Truss defends her budget amid UK market turmoil – POLITICO

LONDON — Liz Truss has insisted she must take « decisive action », in her first public appearance since her government’s budget rattled markets.

In a series of interviews with local BBC radio stations on Thursday morning, the British Prime Minister refused to change course and said she had the « right plan ».

Asked if she remained confident in her policy, Truss told the BBC: ‘I think we need to look at the situation we would be facing had the government not acted.

“We are going through tough economic times,” she said. « I don’t deny that. It’s a global problem. But what is quite right is that the UK government stepped in and acted at this difficult time. »

The Bank of England stepped in on Wednesday with a £65billion emergency intervention to end ‘material risk’ to the UK economy, buying up government bonds in an attempt to stop a dramatic selloff that put people’s pensions at risk.

The pound fell to a record low against the dollar overnight on Monday following the mini budget announced by Kwasi Kwarteng, the Chancellor, last week.

Truss insisted that rising interest rates and tough market conditions were a global issue.

“We are going through very difficult economic times. We are dealing with it globally,” she said. “We will not see growth happen overnight. What is important is that we put this country on a better long-term trajectory.

The budget reversed a planned increase in national insurance and corporation tax, cut stamp duty paid by purchasers of property, brought forward a 1 pence reduction in the basic rate of property tax income and abolished the 45% income tax rate for those earning more than £. 150,000.

Asked if it was a ‘reverse Robin Hood’ plan that would disproportionately benefit the wealthy, Truss told the BBC: ‘It’s just not true.

« The reality is that people who have lower taxes at every level – from national insurance to corporation tax to income tax – help everyone because it contributes to growth of the economy, » Truss said.

« It’s not necessarily popular to keep corporate taxes low, but I want to make sure we do that because I want to make sure we attract investment to this country. »