LONDON — Liz Truss has not published her plan for government, but this is the closest thing to it.
Over nearly eight long weeks of hustings, interviews, articles and debates, the two contenders for the Tory leadership have made their respective cases for why they should succeed Boris Johnson as U.K. prime minister. Among all the campaign jibes and blue-on-blue attacks have been scores of pledges and promises for how to deal with the urgent problems facing the country.
The result of the contest won’t be known for sure until September 5, but with Foreign Secretary Truss the runaway favorite, POLITICO has compiled every policy commitment she has made during over 40 hours of hustings, as well as countless interviews and articles on the campaign trail. It is in effect the 149 separate policy pledges that make up the Truss manifesto.
Finnbarr Webster – WPA Pool/Getty Images
POLICY:
Deliver an emergency budget
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 6, article
SHE SAID WHAT?
I would hit the ground running by bringing in an emergency budget, charting a firm course to get our economy growing in order to help fund our public services and NHS.
POLICY:
Scrap April’s National Insurance rise
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 10, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Liz will reverse the 1.25 percent rise in National Insurance, which was introduced by leadership rival Rishi Sunak in April to help pay for health and social care.
POLICY:
Scrap corporation tax rise
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 15, online Q&A
SHE SAID WHAT?
I would not do the corporation tax hikes because I think it’s vitally important that we’re attracting investment into our country.
POLICY:
Commits to introducing no new taxes
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 31, leadership hustings in London
POLICY:
Remove green energy levies from energy bills
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 14, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
We do need to remove the green energy levy and find a better way of delivering our net zero targets because we’re hammering consumers but we’re also hammering businesses.
POLICY:
Provide support for cost of energy bills
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 25, article
SHE SAID WHAT?
To those of you feeling the squeeze, my message is clear: I will ensure support is on its way and we get through these tough times.
POLICY:
Oppose freeze in energy price cap
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 20, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
But she dismissed Sir Keir Starmer’s call for a freeze on the energy price cap — dubbing it a “sticking plaster that will cost money, but isn’t actually addressing the root cause” of the problem.
POLICY:
Oppose any further windfall tax on energy firms
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds
POLICY:
Distances herself from spending cuts
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 22, press briefing, Peterborough
SHE SAID WHAT?
I’m certainly not talking about public spending cuts.
POLICY:
A 10-year plan for the economy
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 29, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
What I will do is lay out a 10-year plan for public service reform, and a 10-year plan to change Britain’s economic growth rate. We should be growing on average at 2.5 percent.
POLICY:
Pay off COVID debt over longer period
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 14, leadership campaign launch
SHE SAID WHAT?
The way I see the COVID debt is it’s a one-off event … We should pay that debt off over a longer period of time.
POLICY:
Only start paying off debt in 2025
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 25, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
Under my plans, we would start paying down the debt in three years’ time.
POLICY:
Maintain Bank of England’s independence, but reassess its mandate
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 17, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
I completely support the Bank of England’s independence … the last time the mandate was set was in 1997, in completely different times.
POLICY:
Review taxation of families and carers
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 14, leadership campaign launch
SHE SAID WHAT?
We will review the taxation of families to ensure that people aren’t penalized for taking time out to care for children or elderly relatives.
POLICY:
Review business rates
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
POLICY:
Review inheritance tax
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds
POLICY:
Review taxes for the self-employed
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 20, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
If you’re self-employed, you don’t get the same benefits as being in a big company. You don’t get paid holidays, you didn’t get those benefits. So the tax system should reflect that more.
POLICY:
Invest in struggling areas
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
SHE SAID WHAT?
What I would also do is change the Treasury rules about investment, so we’re putting more investment into the areas that don’t have it already, not the areas that do have it already.
POLICY:
Scrap all EU-derived regulation by the end of 2023
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 22, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Liz Truss sets out her credentials as the “Brexit delivery” Prime Minister with a pledge to set a “sunset” deadline for every piece of EU-derived regulation, making sure all EU law is off the statute books by the end of 2023.
POLICY:
Deregulate insurance industry
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 22, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
New regulation will be introduced to preserve the original goal of Solvency II – the protection of people’s investments – while unleashing billions of investment capital.
POLICY:
Deregulate the City
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 5, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
But Truss does have the zeal of the convert when it comes to Brexit, talking about seizing the “opportunities” of Britain’s departure from the EU, including in deregulating the City.
POLICY:
Create new “Investment Zones” and liberalize freeports for growth
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 24, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss’ government will work with local communities to identify sites ripe for redevelopment, with a preference for brownfield sites, and transform them into Investment Zones – or what have been coined “full fat freeports.”
POLICY:
Encourage workers back into offices
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 5, leadership hustings in Eastbourne
SHE SAID WHAT?
I do think it is important that we get more people back into offices, because we need to make sure our town centers and city centers thrive.
POLICY:
Resist a cashless society
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 17, leadership hustings in Belfast
Hollie Adams/AFP via Getty Images
POLICY:
More Rwanda-style schemes to reduce illegal immigration
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 24, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss “will pursue more third country processing partnership schemes like Rwanda.”
POLICY:
Legislate in British Bill of Rights to ensure the ECHR cannot overrule
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 5, leadership hustings in Eastbourne
SHE SAID WHAT?
We also need to legislate in the British Bill of Rights to make sure that we can’t be overruled by the ECHR because it’s vitally important we protect our own borders.
POLICY:
Increase border force numbers
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 24, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss “will increase frontline border force capacity by 20 percent … and double the Border Force Maritime staffing levels.”
POLICY:
No cap on immigration
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, leadership hustings in Cheltenham
POLICY:
Demand police cut key crimes by 20 percent by the end of this parliament
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 26, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Liz Truss has today announced she will expect the police to cut homicide, serious violence and neighbourhood crime by 20 percent by the end of the Parliament.
POLICY:
League tables for police forces
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 26, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
A Truss administration will publish league tables which show how each force is performing against the national trend.
POLICY:
Create a standalone offense of street harassment
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 27, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
“A Truss administration will introduce a standalone offence to criminalise street harassment, clamping down on aggressive and misogynistic behaviour.
POLICY:
Press ahead with a domestic abuse register
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 27, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
A Truss Administration will rapidly introduce the National Domestic Abuse Register, ensuring it covers all forms of domestic abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviour and financial abuse.
POLICY:
Focus on burglary
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 8, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Work with police forces to put victims first, for example by encouraging all forces to ensure that a police officer attends every domestic burglary in person to help boost public confidence.
POLICY:
Focus on violent crime
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
SHE SAID WHAT?
There is a serious problem in this country with gun crime, there’s a serious problem with gangs, there’s a serious problem with knife crime and I’m absolutely determined we get a grip on that.
POLICY:
Hold individuals accountable who did not stop child grooming gangs
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 10, people’s forum
SHE SAID WHAT?
I want the people held to account — the council officers, the councilors and the police — who didn’t do anything about it and even, not just turned a blind eye, but condoned this behavior.
POLICY:
Consider inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Oldham and Rochdale
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 10, people’s forum
SHE SAID WHAT?
Let me have a think about … it seems to me that if we are to stop this appalling abuse happening again, we need to find out what the root causes [were] and some kind of inquiry does sound like the right way forward to me.
POLICY:
Support the continuation of police and crime commissioners
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 19, leadership hustings in Manchester
POLICY:
Tackle sale of offensive weapons online
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 19, leadership hustings in Manchester
POLICY:
Support youth clubs to provide spaces for young people
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
SHE SAID WHAT?
I think youth clubs, for example like YouthZone, are very important for giving young people alternative places to be, rather than being prey to gangs.
POLICY:
Expand use of stop and search
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 25, leadership hustings in Norwich
SHE SAID WHAT?
I fully support stop and search, I think we need to use that more and we need to give the police the powers they need.
POLICY:
Oppose asylum seekers being allowed to work
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 25, leadership hustings in Norwich
SHE SAID WHAT?
The reason why we don’t enable asylum seekers to work is it creates even more of a magnet to come to the United Kingdom … I’m determined to make sure that we don’t become a magnet.
Pool photo by Sigid Kurniawan/AFP via Getty Images
POLICY:
Update Integrated Review with new focus on Chinese and Russian aggression
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 24, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
As Prime Minister, she will update the Integrated Review so that it includes a new chapter focused on tackling the aggression we’ve seen from the likes of China and Russia.
POLICY:
Strengthen Commonwealth
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 27, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss “announced that she will launch a ‘New Commonwealth Deal’ to strengthen economic ties across the Commonwealth and ensure it acts as a vital bulwark to China.”
The New Deal will expedite bilateral trade agreements with Commonwealth partners who play an increasingly important role in global geopolitics.
POLICY:
Deliver a free-trade deal between the U.K. and Israel
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 12, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss “will work to secure a free trade agreement between UK and Israel.”
The relationship between the UK and Israel has grown in standing over the last year but there is still more to do, including completing a free trade deal with Israel.
POLICY:
Continue to support Ukraine through weapons and sanctions on Russia
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 15, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
We need to send more weapons to Ukraine, we need to send more heavy weapons, we need to encourage our allies to do more, we also need to put more sanctions.”
POLICY:
Oppose direct U.K. involvement in the Russia-Ukraine War
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 15, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
I am not prepared for the United Kingdom to become directly involved in the conflict.
POLICY:
Support Ukraine in rebuilding as a nation after the war
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 28, article
POLICY:
Oppose giving away any Ukrainian territory
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 4, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
Well I certainly think it would be wrong for us to give away any territory on behalf of the Ukrainians.
POLICY:
Stop funding to France unless they deal with the migrant crisis
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 20, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
I will hold the French to account and make sure that we are only providing funding to them if it’s being used properly and they are delivering.
POLICY:
Maintain current levels of foreign aid
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, leadership hustings in Cheltenham
POLICY:
Expand alternative to Belt and Road initiative with G7 counterparts
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 17, leadership hustings in Belfast
SHE SAID WHAT?
We need to work together with freedom-loving democracies to counter that, and make sure we’re investing into those countries but that also we’re not becoming strategically dependent on China.
POLICY:
Continue to counter Russian disinformation through the Government Information Cell
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, article
SHE SAID WHAT?
We will continue to step up our work to counter the efforts of Russia and other authoritarian regimes to use disinformation to sow confusion and undermine global stability … I will go further as prime minister by doing everything possible — including declassifying more intelligence — to expose Putin’s playbook to the world.
POLICY:
Keep an open mind on whether President Macron is an ally
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 25, leadership hustings in Norwich
Ben Stansall – WPA Pool/Getty Images
POLICY:
Protect single sex spaces and stand up for free speech
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 1, press release (letter to Conservative members)
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss “will stand up for free speech, and protect single sex spaces for our young women.”
Liz 4 Leader
POLICY:
Combat supposed civil service anti-Semitism
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 12, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss “will change woke civil service culture that strays into antisemitism” and “review whether schools are doing enough to educate pupils and teachers about antisemitism.”
POLICY:
Act as minister for the union
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 13, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
The Truss administration will “put the Union at the heart of everything it does and ensure that all corners of our country are rightly championed at the very top of government.”
POLICY:
Maintain a minister for the north
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 18, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Maintain a Minister for the North – with direct responsibility for local growth and levelling up.
POLICY:
Publish her tax returns
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 25, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
Question: Will you publish your full tax affairs if you’re prime minister? Truss: Yes.
POLICY:
Lay out a 10-year plan for public service reform
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 29, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
So what I will do is lay out a 10-year plan for public service reform.
POLICY:
Move whips’ office back into No. 12 Downing Street
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds
SHE SAID WHAT?
One of the things I would do as prime minister is move the whips’ office back into No. 12 Downing Street.
POLICY:
Review role of ministerial ethics adviser
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 4, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
Well, I will look at the role of the ethics adviser … I slightly worry about outsourcing ethics to somebody else.
POLICY:
Push back on so-called identity politics
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 5, leadership hustings in Eastbourne
POLICY:
Cut 91,000 jobs in Whitehall
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 20, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
Ms Truss said: “We certainly need to reduce the size of Whitehall and we also need to reduce the number of quangos.”
POLICY:
Would vote to end parliamentary inquiry into Boris Johnson
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 9, leadership hustings in Darlington
SHE SAID WHAT?
Questioner: If you had a vote, would you vote to end it? Truss: Well yes, but there isn’t a vote, and it’s going ahead.
POLICY:
Re-establish Lib Dem Unit at CCHQ
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, leadership hustings in Cheltenham
SHE SAID WHAT?
I will re-establish the Liberal Democrat Unit at CCHQ to make sure we have a crack force stopping that happening.
POLICY:
Implement National Disability Strategy
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, leadership hustings in Cheltenham
POLICY:
Utilize Conservative Party members by appointing a single party chairman
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
SHE SAID WHAT?
I would appoint a strong single party chairman who would show leadership on these issues as well as making sure we are getting the policy feed-in from the Conservative Policy Forum.
Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images
POLICY:
Reduce layers of NHS management
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 26, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
What I want to see is fewer layers of management in the National Health Service and less central direction.
POLICY:
Commit to 40 new hospitals
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 26, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
I’m committed to the 40 new hospitals that we have agreed to build.
POLICY:
Support extra social care funding
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 29, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
I support the extra money that we’re putting into social care.
POLICY:
Oppose under-18s making medical gender transition
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds
SHE SAID WHAT?
I do not believe that under-18s should be able to make irreversible decisions about their own bodies that they might come to regret later.
POLICY:
Review pensions of doctors
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 4, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
I’ve met a lot of doctors who’ve gone into retirement because of their pensions, I need to sort that out.
POLICY:
Bring doctors out of retirement
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 4, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
There are many doctors who very kindly came out of retirement to help during COVID … what I’d like to do is see what we can do to encourage those people to come back into the profession.
POLICY:
Rule out another pandemic lockdown
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 5, leadership hustings in Eastbourne
POLICY:
Ensure NHS budget rises in real terms
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 9, leadership hustings in Darlington
POLICY:
Deliver extra NHS funding through general taxation
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 10, people’s forum
SHE SAID WHAT?
I’m committed to the extra funding, but I wouldn’t get that out of a National Insurance rise, I would get that out of general taxation.
POLICY:
Maintain abortion access across the United Kingdom
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 17, leadership hustings in Belfast
POLICY:
No tax relief for patients who opt for private health care
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 19, leadership hustings
SHE SAID WHAT?
I wouldn’t introduce tax relief, I don’t believe that is the answer.
POLICY:
Ensure there is a mental health nurse in GP surgeries
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 19, leadership hustings
SHE SAID WHAT?
I support having a mental nurse in GP surgeries to make sure people are supported.
POLICY:
Ensure relevant hospital wards are single sex
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
SHE SAID WHAT?
We can’t have a situation where there are hospital wards that claim to be single sex that simply aren’t.
POLICY:
No new mask mandates
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 25, leadership hustings in Norwich
Henry Nicholls – Pool/Getty Images
POLICY:
Expand free schools to replace failing academies
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 30, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss will unleash a new wave of free schools to replace failing academies, and enable high performing academies with a proven track record to expand.
POLICY:
Improve literacy and numeracy teaching
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 30, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss will build on her work in DfE to reduce childrens’ reliance on calculators by driving up the quality of maths teaching and delivering on the target for 90% of primary children to reach the expected standard in literacy and numeracy.
POLICY:
Reform child care regulations
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 30, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss will provide the option of opting into childcare around the school day and widen the range of providers who accept government childcare entitlements … Truss’ government will follow through on plans to move to Scotland’s ratios for staff to children for 3-4 year olds. This will help bring down the long term costs of childcare.
POLICY:
Review university funding and widen the admissions process for talented pupils
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 30, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
A Truss government will explore options for university financing so the government no longer continues to subsidise poor quality degrees at the expense of high quality vocational training … We will reform the admissions process so students who get top grades in their A levels would be automatically invited to apply.
POLICY:
Lift the ban on new grammar schools
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 29, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
I want people around the country to have the choice that we have to be able to send our daughters to a grammar school.
POLICY:
Commit to “Voxbridge”
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 18, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Commit to Voxbridge – two brand new vocational institutions in the North of England, which will be the vocational equivalents of Oxford and Cambridge.
POLICY:
Explore reforming university admissions to be post-exams
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 30, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss would also “look at” changing the system so students only apply for university after they have their results, something which is common in other countries.
POLICY:
Eradicting anti-Semitism in schools through staff training
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
There have to be mandatory policies in place and we need to make sure staff are educated to understand that.
POLICY:
Demand universities give refunds if they don’t deliver
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 10, people’s forum
SHE SAID WHAT?
What I would make sure is universities are held to account for delivering that, otherwise they should have to give a refund to students who aren’t getting what they pay for.
POLICY:
Ensure mental health support in schools
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 19, leadership hustings
SHE SAID WHAT?
I want them [children and young people] to have access to mental health support in schools.
POLICY:
Expand support for SEND children and their parents
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
SHE SAID WHAT?
We do need to reform the system to make it much more responsible … I think family hubs are part of the solution to that … I think having more support in schools is part of the solution to that.
POLICY:
Extend school opening hours
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
SHE SAID WHAT?
I support schools opening for longer hours … to help children get the skills they need but also to make sure they are less prey to potential alternatives.
POLICY:
Expand youth apprenticeships
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
SHE SAID WHAT?
More apprenticeships, more jobs, more good opportunities for young people, so they are not encouraged to go in the wrong direction.
POLICY:
Develop specialist teaching
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
POLICY:
Expand early years support
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
Pool photo by Kevin Lamarque/AFP via Getty Images
POLICY:
Increase defence spending to 3 percent of GDP by 2030
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 19, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Liz Truss has today announced that she will increase the UK’s defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 at the latest to ensure Britain is the leading force against authoritarian regimes, including Russia and China.
POLICY:
Renew nuclear deterrent, submarine fleet and advance cyber warfare
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 19, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
In the short term, these additional resources will allow the Ministry of Defence to deliver the new fleet of Dreadnought class of submarines and the full renewal of our nuclear deterrent. They will also accelerate the delivery of cutting edge cyber warfare, space and new defence technologies.
POLICY:
Ensure a veterans minister in the Cabinet
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 9, leadership hustings in Darlington
SHE SAID WHAT?
One thing I will do is make sure we have a veterans minister in the Cabinet making sure we support veterans.
POLICY:
Review planned cuts of 10,000 armed personnel
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 9, leadership hustings in Darlington
SHE SAID WHAT?
Of course there will have to be further to see exactly how that will be spent … land wars are not something of the past … we do need to look at that again.
POLICY:
Launch nuclear weapons if necessary
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 23, leadership hustings in Birmingham
Pool photo by John Sibley/Getty Images
POLICY:
Enhance food security by giving farmers access to workers
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 31, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
We will make it easier for farmers and growers to access the workers they need, with a short term expansion to the seasonal workers scheme, while working with industry to address longer term skills shortages.
POLICY:
Revive the rural economy by cutting regulation
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 14, leadership campaign launch
SHE SAID WHAT?
We will turbocharge the rural economy by focusing on farmers growing food and cutting the pointless regulation that gets in their way.
POLICY:
Ensure full control over fishing waters
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 1, leadership hustings in Exeter
SHE SAID WHAT?
I will make sure as an independent coastal state, we have full control over our fishing waters.
POLICY:
Work to protect endangered species
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 5, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
The natural environment we have — protecting endangered species.
POLICY:
Hold water companies to account on pollution
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, leadership hustings in Cheltenham
SHE SAID WHAT?
I would make sure the water companies are held to account and also that we are dealing with the effluent that is going into our waterways.
POLICY:
Review the regulators of energy and water
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, leadership hustings in Cheltenham
Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
POLICY:
Change how mortgages are assessed
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 29, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss would support more first-time buyers into homeownership by allowing rent payments to be used as part of the affordability assessment for a mortgage.
This would be done through the upcoming mortgage review.
POLICY:
Abolish top-down housing targets
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 1, press release (letter to Conservative members)
SHE SAID WHAT?
I will abolish Soviet top-down housing targets.
Liz 4 Leader
POLICY:
Create a “leveling up” funding formula to support struggling areas
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 18, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss will “equalise and level up government spending across the UK, to ensure areas which have been left behind get the funding they need.”
POLICY:
Deliver West Midlands RailHub and Battery Gigafactory in Coventry
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 22, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss’ “government will deliver the Midlands Rail Hub and put its weight behind the battery gigafactory in Coventry.”
POLICY:
Expand urban density by building higher-rise accommodation
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 15, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
In our cities, I think we should be building up more … we should make more of the space we have.
POLICY:
Ensure incremental housing development in the countryside
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 15, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
In our countryside and rural areas, I’m a supporter of allowing incremental expansion of villages rather than these massive targets that land on the back of local councils.
POLICY:
Devolve more power to metro mayors (such as Andy Street of the West Midlands)
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 22, article
SHE SAID WHAT?
I want to empower Andy further, giving him and the West Midlands Combined Authority the powers they need to drive growth across the West Midlands.
Hollie Adams/Getty Images
POLICY:
Expand markets for British sales
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 13, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
My Trade Secretary would follow in my footsteps and open new markets for our Scotch whisky, Welsh lamb and ships in Northern Ireland.
POLICY:
Limit technology exports to authoritarian regimes
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 25, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
We should be limiting the amount of technology exports we do to authoritarian regimes.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
POLICY:
Deliver net zero carbon emissions by 2050
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 22, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Deliver Net Zero by 2050 – without reducing household incomes or damaging businesses, by harnessing the innovative technologies, world-leading research, and top class manufacturing that the West Midlands plays host to.
POLICY:
Rules out energy rationing this winter
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 31, leadership hustings in London
POLICY:
Ask industry leaders to review business legislation
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 4, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
She would set up a working group of industry leaders to help draft new regulations that work best for British businesses and consumers.
POLICY:
Review carbon leakage and push for more use of gas
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds
POLICY:
Expand nuclear power usage
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 28, leadership hustings in Leeds
POLICY:
Underwrite the cost of nuclear energy
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 3, leadership hustings in Cardiff
SHE SAID WHAT?
I think the plain reality of nuclear is that the government does have to underwrite it at some level and I am willing to do that because I believe it’s a vital part of our energy security.
POLICY:
Oppose fields containing solar panels
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, leadership hustings in Exeter
SHE SAID WHAT?
Our fields should be full of our fantastic produce … they shouldn’t be full of solar panels.
POLICY:
Commit to small modular nuclear reactors
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, leadership hustings in Cheltenham
POLICY:
Utilize hydrogen energy in the network
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, leadership hustings in Cheltenham
SHE SAID WHAT?
I think hydrogen is very important, it does work with natural gas, we can use a lot of the same infrastructure.
POLICY:
Make more use of renewable energy
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 25, leadership hustings in Norwich
POLICY:
Allow private companies to decide policies on sex and gender
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 25, leadership hustings in Norwich
SHE SAID WHAT?
I’m also somebody who believes in freedom … they can decide their policies as they see fit … I can decide to go in Marks and Spencer or not.
POLICY:
Rely on France for nuclear energy if necessary
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 25, leadership hustings in Norwich
POLICY:
Support offshore wind energy as part of a domestic energy strategy
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 25, article
SHE SAID WHAT?
We have huge potential to harness, whether it is through the small modular reactors … or our nation having the largest offshore wind capacity in Europe.
Pool photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Getty Images
POLICY:
Ensure Online Safety Bill balances protection with freedom of speech
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 19, leadership debate
SHE SAID WHAT?
What I want to make sure with the bill … is that it strikes the balance correctly … The principles I believe in are protecting free speech and ensuring we are not exposing under-18s to harm online.
POLICY:
Reform the BBC License Fee
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 11, leadership hustings in Cheltenham
SHE SAID WHAT?
I will reform the BBC license fee and I certainly think it’s wrong that so many women are in jail for non-payment of it.
Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images
POLICY:
Restrict trade union strike action
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 25, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss will introduce minimum service levels on critical national infrastructure – introducing primary legislation in the first 30 days of government … [and] ensure strike action has significant support from union members by raising the minimum threshold for voting in favour of strike action from 40 to 50 percent.
POLICY:
Deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail in full
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 18, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss will continue “working with local leaders to put together a fully costed plan to deliver the project, as we promised in our 2019 manifesto.”
POLICY:
Counter the “anti-car narrative”
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 3, leadership hustings in Cardiff
SHE SAID WHAT?
What I am not though is anti-car and what I don’t like at the moment about modern Britain is how anti-car some of the local authorities and policies around the country seem to be.
POLICY:
Scrap smart motorways
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 31, leadership hustings in London
SHE SAID WHAT?
I do believe that the smart motorways experiment hasn’t worked … Yes [I would stop smart motorways].
POLICY:
Fully dual the A1
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 9, leadership hustings in Darlington
Pool photo by Jacob King/Getty Images
POLICY:
Reform welfare
DATE & PLATFORM:
July 16, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
We’ve got 5 million people economically inactive — we need to get those people into work. We need to reform welfare.
POLICY:
Examine incentives in benefits system
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 5, leadership hustings in Eastbourne
SHE SAID WHAT?
It’s a combination of incentives within the benefit system as well as actively providing people with the skills and training they need to do those jobs.
POLICY:
No further help for WASPI women
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 10, people’s forum
SHE SAID WHAT?
On the specific case of the WASPI women, I don’t think it was handled very well at the time … but I think where we are now, it will be very difficult to go back.
POLICY:
Review war widow inequality
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 10, people’s forum
SHE SAID WHAT?
It is very, very unfair that war widows, who then remarry, are essentially penalized.
POLICY:
Fully committed to triple lock pensions
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 16, leadership hustings in Perth
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
POLICY:
Continue to oppose a second Scottish independence referendum
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 15, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
Building on her record as Trade Secretary, Truss said she would push for an end to the longstanding 150% tariff on Scotch Whisky in India to boost exports and reduce SME trade barriers.
POLICY:
Give members of the Scottish parliament parliamentary privilege
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 15, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
She also vowed to give parliamentary privilege to members of the Scottish Parliament to allow them to more stringently hold the Scottish Government to account for its record.
Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
POLICY:
Build M4 relief road
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 13, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
I would continue to invest across the country, including building the M4 relief road in Wales that Mark Drakeford originally promised, but then blocked.
POLICY:
Support Wylfa power station developments
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 3, leadership hustings in Cardiff
POLICY:
Re-examine Severn Barrage
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 3, leadership hustings in Cardiff
SHE SAID WHAT?
So I would certainly look at that project again as prime minister to see if it stacks up and see what we can do to make it happen.
Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
POLICY:
Find solution to Northern Ireland protocol
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 13, press release
SHE SAID WHAT?
I will seek to continue what I started in the Foreign Office to find a solution to the Northern Ireland protocol that works for the people and businesses there that contribute to our growth, and respects Northern Ireland’s position as a key part of our United Kingdom.
POLICY:
Scrap parts of Northern Ireland protocol
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 5, interview
SHE SAID WHAT?
Truss said that scrapping parts of the Northern Ireland protocol was needed to end the boycott of the Stormont assembly by the Democratic Unionist party.
POLICY:
Ensure freeports in Northern Ireland
DATE & PLATFORM:
August 17, leadership hustings in Belfast
Andrew McDonald contributed reporting.