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Why Did Liz Truss Former Prime Minister Resign? What Did Kwasi Kwarteng Say To Her?
According to Kwasi Kwarteng, he urged Liz Truss to “slow down” if she wanted to keep her job and advised her against pushing her tax-cutting plan too far and too quickly.
After a little more than 30 days on the job, the former chancellor claimed he warned the prime minister it was “crazy” to sack him.
Mr. Kwarteng also called Rishi Sunak a “very credible” prime minister in his first interview since being fired last month, although he forewarned him about the looming tax increases in the next Autumn Statement.
We tried to do too much, too quickly, he said to TalkTV. Too much, too quickly. I believe the strategic objective was sound. But I believe we need to have taken a far more cautious approach.
He said he bore ‘some responsibility’ for the timetable of the mini-budget, but that Ms Truss ‘was very much of the view that we needed to move things fast. But I think it was too quick’, he added.
‘Even after the mini budget we were going at breakneck speed. And I said, “You know, we should slow down, slow down”.’ She said, “Well, I’ve only got two years” and I said, “You will have two months if you carry on like this”. And I’m afraid that’s what happened’.
Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked as Chancellor by Liz Truss, just days before she was forced to resign. Mr Kwarteng said he told her it was ‘too much too fast’
With their contentious mini-budget, Mr. Kwarteng has acknowledged the couple sought to accomplish “too much, too fast.”
Although I believe we required a stronger tactical strategy to fulfill her wishes, she had the proper motivation. He commended Miss Truss’ “dynamism” and determination to “hit the ground running,” but he claimed that the Government disregarded his advice that it needed to adopt a more “measured approach.”
Mr. Kwarteng advised Miss Truss to “slow down” further reforms after his failed mini-Budget in September, but she persisted in continuing because she only had “two years” left to push them through.
Miss Truss’ acquaintance Mr. Kwarteng claimed he found out about his firing on Twitter. I arrived at Downing Street, he continued. Into the cabinet room I went.
The Prime Minister appeared to be emotionally distressed. If you keep acting this way, you will only have two months, I warned.
He pleaded with Mr. Sunak and his Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, not to hold him and Miss Truss responsible for the dreadful economic position that exists now. He argued that Liz Truss’ 44 days in office did not contribute to the nation’s debt.
On September 23, Mr. Kwarteng made the largest announcement of tax reduction in fifty years.
He proposed a package that included eliminating the top rate of income tax for the richest incomes and eliminating the cap on bankers’ bonuses, in addition to a colossally expensive energy support package, using more than £70 billion in new borrowing.
The mini-budget caused financial market instability that caused the pound to plunge, necessitated the Bank of England’s intervention, and raised mortgage rates.
When Mr. Kwarteng hinted at additional tax cuts two days later, the markets became even more agitated.
Mr. Kwarteng was frequently asked if he wanted to apologize to the people who would incur additional charges from remortgaging, but he refused, saying, “I don’t want to relive the past.”
“I do feel terrible for the folks going through this difficult time in terms of re-mortgaging,” he continued.
“I’m not going to wash my hands of what we did,” the author added. “I think the strategic aims were the right ones, but as it was said, there was no real tactical strategy, no real schedule for it, and I think we should have done that.”
The ex-chancellor claimed that while en route to a meeting with Ms Truss in Downing Street, he first learned of his dismissal via a tweet.
She was obviously quite emotional, but he couldn’t recall if she was crying at all.
Describing his thinking at that moment, he said: ‘This is mad. Prime ministers don’t get rid of chancellors.
‘I think I said to her at the time, ‘This is going to last three or four weeks’.
‘Little did I know it was only going to be six days.’
The Chancellor returned to Downing Street on October 14 after leaving an IMF summit in Washington early. He was then sacked by Ms Truss
After the mini budget, the pound’s value against the US dollar plunged to all-time lows. To support pension funds, the Bank of England has to intervene.
She can’t terminate me for simply carrying out her platform, Mr. Kwarteng continued. And we spoke, as you may know.
And I believe that the belief that she would somehow survive if I bore the blame for that was really strong.
Despite claiming to have ignored Ms Truss’s recent missed call, Mr. Kwarteng asserted that they were still “friends.”
After only 44 days in office, Ms. Truss was forced to leave after her economic policies were promptly abandoned by the new chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, and her deputy at No. 10, Rishi Sunak.
Mr. Kwarteng asserted that Mr. Sunak and Mr. Hunt could not place the blame for the country’s financial crisis on Ms. Truss’ administration.
The only thing, he claimed, for which they might hold us accountable is the decline in interest rates and the subsequent decline in gilt rates.
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Also refusing to support predicted tax increases in his successor’s next autumn budget is Mr. Kwarteng.
‘You’re not going to grow an economy, or incentivise economic growth by putting up our taxes,’ he said.
