Sunak plans to rebuild trust lost during Truss’ tenure: Report

LONDON – Rishi Sunak said Britain’s budget this month will help the Conservative Party regain some of the trust that was lost during his predecessor’s disastrous time as prime minister.

In an interview with the Times published late Friday, Mr Sunak sought to emphasise his credentials as a former chancellor of the exchequer and

denounced Liz Truss’ mini-budget

at the end of September as a “sugar rush”. The

Nov 17 budget

would be “fair and compassionate”, he said.

He also sought to deflect comments by Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey that Britain’s damaged credibility has resulted in the Treasury paying a premium on borrowing costs.

Many of the country’s challenges are global, Mr Sunak said, pointing to the aftermath of Covid-19 on supply chains and the effect of

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on energy prices.

Mr Sunak also:

* Declined to comment on whether he plans to break the party’s manifesto pledge not to raise income tax, value added tax or national insurance payments.

* Pledged to “get a grip” on inflation, and to do “absolutely everything” to limit the increase in mortgage rates.

* Defended his Home Secretary’s comment that England’s south coast faces an “invasion” from migrants. “Suella Braverman was conveying a sense of scale of the challenge,” he said.

* Said that during face-to-face talks with Boris Johnson, he told the former PM he wouldn’t step aside if Mr Johnson were to run for the party leadership. BLOOMBERG