Tory conference: Liz Truss - speech will say disruption will be worth it for growth

Truss is due to start speaking at around 11:00 BST - the speech is expected to be around 25 minutes long.

Trickle down seems to me like you work for a business with an already well paid chief exec. The business has had a bad year or two. No-one is getting a pay rise. No-one except the chief exec who is getting a big pay rise and a big bonus. “This is necessary” he says “as giving me a lot more money in these difficult times will benefit everyone in the business. I will work harder and better because I am getting paid more when the company is not doing well.” And of course everyone will support this decision. Not.

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Comes straight out of Adam Smith’s book The Wealth of Nations (1776)

[Every individual] neither intends to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it … by directing [his] industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention … By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it. I have never known much good done by those who affected to trade for the public good.

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Since the Bank of England announced market operations to purchase gilts last Wednesday, Westminster politicos have been struggling to get their heads round the intricacies of gilt markets. It therefore comes as no surprise to Guido that Nick Robinson was forced into a correction today, after incorrectly repeating the widely tweeted claim that the Bank of England has spent “£65 billion to prop up the markets” :

The claim is somewhat misleading. The Bank of England pledged to buy gilts to the tune of a maximum of £5 billion a day, over two weeks, to assure markets. This means the maximum possible spend was £65 billion, though the actual number will be far smaller. In reality the bank has purchased around £3.66 billion so far, with yesterday’s purchases coming in at just £22 million. The smaller purchase signals the Bank is comfortable with the current state of gilt markets as its credible commitment appears to have paid off. Guido appreciates that the BBC this time took the effort to get the facts right…

Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who should know better as an ex-Bank of England employee, repeated the same line: “The fact the Bank of England had to step in with a £65 billion bailout with taxpayers money is deeply shameful.” It is not a fact.

Firstly, the market operation will be nowhere near £65 billion. Secondly, it is not money from taxpayers, it is from Treasury reserves, with the purchases even having the potential to make a profit on resale.* So her “taxpayers’ money” claim is also incorrect. Robbo we can excuse, he only has a PPE degree from Oxford. The Shadow Chancellor, a trained economist, is deliberately and wilfully misrepresenting the facts for political advantage…

*A market source says that marked-to-market the Treasury is currently in profit on the trade.

Your post is not about the Tory conference - it seems to refer to the topic in this thread:

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Your post is not about the Tory conference - it seems to refer to the topic in this thread:

My post was in reply to Strathmore’s as I’m sure he’ll now want to correct what he’s said and won’t do it again.

I do agree with that view of Truss but I’d also suggest that her communication style is not actually her biggest problem or the worst factor going against her. Pushing a policy that forced the BoE to spaff £65bn of our money into the money markets (within a week of being PM) to bolster government bonds is quite a bit worse than a stilted style of speaking.

As can be seen from my post this is totally incorrect and if you think it should have been put on another thread then take it up with Strathmore not me.

Bruce asked what the OBR is so I posted a link to explain what it was. If you don’t think this is the correct thread to answer his post then you should have referred Bruce to the correct thread.

His reply was a comment - yours, IMO, verged on a political dissertation.

Your reply, IMO, verged on a political dissertation.

Won’t reply to either of these posts as it will take the thread off topic. And am sure there must be another thread somewhere where they would be more appropriate.

Hi

She is already being heckled.

I find this a shame, I want to know what exactly she is intending to do.

Swim heckled by who, the only hecklers I saw was ‘green peace’ who got kicked out.

I’m trying to work out who this Chinese person is that she’s talking about. She shouted the name out thrice.

Prime Minister Liz Truss has begun to deliver her speech to Tory conference in Birmingham.

She walked on stage to the sounds of a “90s classic” - in this case Moving On Up by M People.

:roll_eyes:

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She looked mighty furtive throughout, as though she was looking towards some men in white coats, or the police, to see if they were coming to take her away; and that she only had a few moments to rattle out her big rambling thoughts for the day

Liz Truss vowed to “get Britain through the tempest” and insisted “everyone will benefit” from the result of her economic policies in her keynote conference speech during which she was heckled by Greenpeace supporters.

Addressing Conservative members at the event in Birmingham, as she battles to save her premiership, the prime minister acknowledged that “these are stormy days”.

“In these tough times, we need to step up,” she continued. "I am determined to get Britain moving, to get us through the tempest and put us on a stronger footing as a nation. She continued: “Whenever there is change there is disruption. Not everyone will be in favour but everyone will benefit from the result.”

Ms Truss was interrupted by two Greenpeace protesters who heckled: “Who voted for this,” as they held up a banner.

In a tweet after the incident, Greenpeace said activists were there to “denounce the prime minister ‘shredding’ her party’s 2019 manifesto promises”.

“The PM is U-turning on fracking, strong climate action, and world-leading environmental protections. Who voted for this?”

Continuing, the PM told the audience she and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng “will keep closely co-ordinating our monetary and fiscal policy” after the government’s tax-cutting mini-budget saw the pound slump to a record level. She promised “an iron grip on the nation’s finances” and vowed to break Britain out of a “high-tax, low-growth cycle”, adding: “The chancellor and I are in lockstep on this.”

Ms Truss said she is “working flat out” to make sure people can get through the economic crisis. “So let me be clear: we have your back,” the PM added.

The PM said she and Mr Kwarteng U-turned on abolishing the 45p tax rate on top earners because it “became a distraction”. “I get it and I have listened,” she told the audience.

Outlining her three priorities for Britain’s economy: “growth, growth and growth”, Ms Truss said she “will not allow the anti-growth coalition of Labour, the Lib Dems and the SNP to hold us back”. She accused Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of having “no long-term plan and no vision for Britain”. Hinting at more “disruption”, the PM also promised that her government will always be “fiscally responsible”.

But the speech, which was just over half an hour long, contained no new policy announcements and made no reference to benefits - which the PM is facing another split within her cabinet over.

Ms Truss exited the stage to applause and quickly left the conference venue.

So, just the same old, same old sound-bites from RoboTruss … :robot:

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It wasn’t very exciting at all really…but then again, we didn’t really expect anything else. :woman_shrugging:

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Quite … all talk and no trousers … :man_shrugging: