Shameless Liz Truss has yet again refused to apologise for a spike in mortgage rises as she says it's "wrong" to say she's to blame.
The ex-PM is blamed for skyrocketing mortgage rates, which shot up after her disastrous mini-budget sent markets into meltdown. But Ms Truss has spent the last week shifting blame in media interviews as she promotes her new book Ten Years to Save the West, in which she describes the day she announced her mini-budget as her "happiest moment as Prime Minister".
Asked whether she would apologise to those paying higher mortgages, Ms Truss told Sky News' Ed Conway: “I question the premise of what you're asking me Ed, because the fact is, mortgage rates have gone up across the world. The issues that I faced in office were issues of not being able to deliver the agenda I'd set out because of a deep resistance within the British economic establishment.
"I think it's wrong to suggest that I'm responsible for British people paying higher mortgages. That is something that has happened in every country in the free world.”
Ms Truss blamed the Bank of England, adding: "There was a global rise. There was a global rise in mortgage rates. And I think it's disingenuous to say that was as a result of the policies I pursued. Now we had a specific issue with the gilt market, but that issue was driven by the actions of the Bank of England. And what frustrates me Ed, is the fact that journalists like you are not asking those difficult questions of the Bank of England of what they did in autumn 2022."
Ms Truss's mini-budget, which was unveiled in September 2022, included £45billion of unfunded tax cuts. The announcement caused the pound to fall sharply and government borrowing costs to soar. As a result of the chaos, mortgage rates surged to a 14-year high and some pension funds were put at risk.
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones last week said: “The Conservative crashed the economy, put pensions in peril and inflicted mortgage misery on millions.
“It is insulting in the extreme that Liz Truss describes her kamikaze budget as her ‘happiest moment as Prime Minister’. Thanks to The Conservatives’ reckless actions, a typical family re-mortgaging can expect to pay an additional £240 each month.
“The British people are sick of being made to pay the price of Conservative economic failure and deserve the chance to vote for change and a Labour government.”
Speaking about Labour, Ms Truss added: “What I feel is there has been a narrative promoted in Britain about what happened in the autumn of 2022 that simply isn't true. And the Labour Party have ridden off the back of that narrative. And what I am seeking to do in my book is be truthful about what happened. […] And those people who indulge in personal attacks on me, are people who don't want to face the truth about the problems in our country."