Truss pledges to scrap EU rules if she wins race to be Britain's prime minister

LONDON • Ms Liz Truss has vowed to scrap all remaining European Union laws by the end of next year if she becomes Britain's prime minister, as she vies for votes with Mr Rishi Sunak in their battle to win the Conservative Party leadership election and succeed Mr Boris Johnson.

EU rules "hinder" British businesses, Ms Truss said in a statement on Friday as she promised to set a sunset deadline on every piece of EU-derived regulation.

That includes scrapping the Solvency II rules governing insurers that critics say are too onerous, curtailing their ability to invest in long-term assets such as infrastructure.

The Foreign Secretary's promise matches one made last week by Mr Sunak, who wrote in the Telegraph newspaper that he would task a new Brexit delivery department with reviewing the remaining 2,400 EU laws on the British statute book with a view to scrapping or reforming them all by the next general election, due in January 2025 at the latest.

Ms Truss is also setting her sights on potential changes at the Bank of England. In an interview with the Telegraph published on Friday, she said some inflation forecasts have been wrong, adding that she would look at best practices from other central banks, and wanted to be sure there was sufficient focus on inflation and money supply.

"I believe it is right that inflation will come down because inflation was caused by a global supply shock. But it was exacerbated by monetary policy," she said.

"What I have said is in the future I'm going to look at the Bank of England's mandate."

Brexit is shaping up to be a key battleground in the race. While Ms Truss campaigned for remain in the 2016 referendum, she has embraced the divorce with a convert's zeal and burnished her credentials by introducing a Bill designed to scrap large parts of the Brexit deal governing Northern Ireland. That helped secure the backing of the European Research Group of Brexit-backing Conservative MPs.

That Ms Truss is more trusted within the Tories to deliver on Brexit is frustrating for Mr Sunak, who campaigned and voted for Britain to leave the bloc.

Mr Sunak yesterday described himself as the underdog in the contest. "Be in no doubt, I am the underdog," he said in a speech in Grantham, central England, the birth place of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

"The forces that be want this to be a coronation for the other candidate but I think members want a choice and they are prepared to listen," he said.

In his speech, he laid out his Thatcherite credentials, promising careful management of the economy before tax cuts. He criticised as arbitrary Ms Truss' pledge to increase defence spending to 3 per cent of gross domestic product by 2030.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on July 24, 2022, with the headline Truss pledges to scrap EU rules if she wins race to be Britain's prime minister. Subscribe