The Tory leadership frontrunner was chief secretary to the Treasury when the conversation with officials was recorded five years ago.
In the clip, leaked to The Guardian, Ms Truss said those outside London were less likely to be hard workers. She said British workers as a whole also lacked the “skill and application” of foreign rivals, specifically those in China. She also referenced a book she co-authored in 2012, Britannia Unchained, saying a passage from it was “mischaracterised”.
The passage said British workers were among the “worst idlers in the world”, but last month she claimed to have not written that chapter and blamed fellow author and current deputy prime minister Dominic Raab.
Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, said Ms Truss’ comments were “grossly offensive”.
“Earlier this month, Liz Truss suggested workers outside London should have their pay cut,” he said. Now it’s revealed she has been saying people outside London don’t have the right culture or attitude. With wages shrinking thanks to Tory failure to bring inflation under control and years of lacklustre growth, it’s grossly offensive for Liz Truss to effectively brand British workers lazy. I would have hoped she had moved on from the days of her ‘Britannia Unchained’ fiasco, but it seems that is the blueprint for her prospective government."
In Truss’s case, we can expect the leopard to have changed its’ spots overnight …
Well perhaps if she were able to fund apprenticeships and technical trade courses, she would find that many workers would jump at the chance to “graft”
@Omah , Maybe offensive Omah ?
But probably true ?
Unless office work has become the product then the british work force
can he described as non productive !
How can such an economy ever be productive in the true sense of
productivity ??
I await the howls of protest from button pushers ??
Hasn’t this person got advisors guiding what she should say? Probably all overworked. She does like to keep putting her foot in it. And she, unlike those (idle British workers) gets a fair old wage. May the gods of election heaven protect us all.
With a 2019 gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.83 trillion, the United Kingdom has the sixth-largest economy in the world.
According to the U.K. Office for National Statistics (ONS), the services sector is the largest sector in the U.K., accounting for more than three-quarters of the GDP. The service industry in the U.K. comprises many industries, including finance and business services, consumer-focused industries, such as retail, food and beverage, and entertainment. Manufacturing and production contribute less than 21% of the GDP, and agriculture contributes about 0.60%.
As we know, Ms Truss has a less than adequate grasp of economics (or, in fact, anything).
@Omah As l thought, We are a nation of shopkeepers and insurance
salesmen, the stuff we sell is made elsewhere, we just add 10% to what
we paid for it,our economy is based on what we spend, not what we earn !!
Because it is a large economy does not mean it is a healthy economy ?
especially if our spending is fed by credit,( which it is)
For instance, Rishi Sunak recently borrowed £40 billion to put into the
“Economy” borrowed at•1%, this % has now increased to2% and looks set to
increase further to supposedly fight inflation ?
Who benefits from this increase in interest?
And will it fight inflation?
Liz Truss said this 5 years ago. However, as Omah says (and I agree) it is unlikely that the leopard will have changed it’s spots. Even Boris would be better to stay than her becoming PM, as I believe she will drag this country further into the mire. Unfortunately she does not engage brain before opening gob and that is a dangerous thing both in this country and abroad.
