Latest updates: follow all the developments as the new leader of the Conservatives is elected
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank, told the Today programme that Liz Truss’s economic policies would increase infla.
Referring to her argument that a new economic approach is needed because growth has been so weak over the last decade or more, he said:
She’s clearly absolutely right that we’ve had dreadful growth over the last 15 years. The but is that simply cutting taxes, cutting national insurance contributions, for example, is not a strategy for growth.
And it is clearly pumping a large amount of money into the economy on top of the £30bn we’ve already had to support energy bills, on top of the presumably many, many tens of billions additional that are going to come [on top of] that, and on top of what’s going to have to be more money for public services.
I would shorten the process of members in the country.
There was no reason why it couldn’t have been shortened. We could have had more than one hustings a day.
I suspect Sir Graham [Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee) knows, but as always he is completely inscrutable on these matters.
Continue reading…
