Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss has issued a legal “cease and desist” letter to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, demanding he stop asserting that she “crashed the economy.” Truss’s lawyers argue the claim is “false and defamatory,” alleging it harmed her politically ahead of her loss of the South West Norfolk seat in the general election.
Truss, the UK’s shortest-serving Prime Minister, resigned after 49 tumultuous days in office, following a sharp rise in borrowing costs triggered by her government’s controversial mini-budget. Despite this, Truss maintains that Sir Keir’s claims are baseless. “I know Keir Starmer won’t repeat his allegations that I crashed the economy because he knows it’s a lie,” she posted on X.
The legal letter, sent Thursday, asserts that Sir Keir’s statements are “grossly defamatory and indefensible,” accusing him of making them maliciously. It urges him to cease repeating the “factually incorrect” claims, emphasizing the need for “basic levels of civility” between senior politicians.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman dismissed the letter, suggesting Truss should extend her correspondence to the “millions of people” who faced higher mortgage bills due to her economic policies. Sir Keir “absolutely stands by” his statements about Truss’s government, according to his spokesman.
Commons leader Lucy Powell echoed this sentiment, declaring, “We won’t cease and desist from telling the truth that they [the Conservatives] crashed the economy.” Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones criticized the previous Conservative government for “ruining lives” through “hubris” and “recklessness.”
The dispute coincides with economic turbulence, as the pound hit its lowest level in over a year and government borrowing costs reached a 16-year high. Economists warn that rising costs may necessitate further tax increases or spending cuts. Jones, however, downplayed the need for emergency intervention, attributing the financial market movements to a mix of international and domestic factors.
Tory shadow chancellor Mel Stride countered, claiming Labour’s tax policies would merely offset the higher borrowing costs without benefiting the British public.
The controversy over Truss’s mini-budget, particularly its extensive tax cuts, continues to haunt her legacy. In a video on X, Truss blamed Labour, the Bank of England, and the media for undermining her budget, forcing its reversal, and plunging the country into an economic crisis. During the Conservative Party conference last October, she dismissed suggestions that her policies had led to Labour’s anticipated tax hikes as “economic illiteracy.”
In response to Truss’s complaints, civil servants last July amended documents that described her mini-budget as “disastrous,” with the Cabinet Office acknowledging the need for corrections.
About Author
Leave a Reply