Truss accepts responsibility for 'mistakes' but blames enemies

Former prime minister Liz Truss acknowledged "mistakes" on her part but attributed the failure of her policies to the economic "establishment" in her first televised interview since her short-lived tenure as prime minister last year.

Truss, who was ousted after a mere 49 days in office, cautiously expressed regrets while highlighting external factors that undermined her initiatives.

"Whilst I did what I could to deliver my policies, I also recognise I made mistakes as well," Truss said during a live question-and-answer session on the right-wing channel GB News.

"And I wasn't as ready as I should have been. And I wasn't prepared for some of the onslaught and brickbats that I got," she added.

When Truss introduced a package of unfunded tax cuts in an attempt to stimulate economic growth, financial markets experienced a sharp decline.

This led to an increase in borrowing costs for countless Britons who were already grappling with surging prices.

In response to the crisis, Truss had to dismiss her chancellor. Conservative party leaders subsequently informed Truss that she could not remain in 10 Downing Street after Boris Johnson's removal from office.

As a result, she was replaced with Rishi Sunak.

"I didn't want to see people's mortgages go up. I didn't want to see people in Britain struggling," Truss told the audience, while blaming "groupthink around what I call the economic establishment."

"What I want to see is those Conservative economic policies that give people real hope for the future. So that is what I'm determined to do. I'm determined to fight for those policies."

Truss backed Johnson after he was given an excoriating rebuke earlier Thursday by a committee of MPs investigating his "Partygate" denials during Covid lockdowns.

"Never, ever, ever write Boris off," she said, echoing Johnson's diehard supporters who are fighting the committee's recommended sanctions after he resigned as a member of parliament.

But Truss denied that she wanted Sunak to fail.

"Let's be clear -- I want the prime minister and the Conservatives to win the next election. I think (opposition Labour leader) Keir Starmer would be an absolute disaster," she said.

(AFP)