Liz Truss has refused a Conservative Party member’s request for her to apologise for proposing to hyperlink public sector pay to native dwelling prices – reiterating that the coverage was “misrepresented”.
On Monday night time, the overseas secretary and Tory management frontrunner stated she would save £8.8bn by introducing regional pay boards as an alternative of nationwide ones to set salaries for civil servants, reflecting the place they lived.
It would have meant paying authorities staff in poorer elements of the nation lower than their counterparts in additional prosperous areas, such because the South East and London, and specialists warned to achieve the sum the plan wanted to incorporate the likes of academics, nurses and cops.
After the coverage sparked outrage from numerous Conservatives, on Tuesday lunchtime Ms Truss’ staff U-turned on the plans and launched an announcement insisting “current levels of public sector pay will absolutely be maintained”.
Conservative Party member Tom from Gateshead, collaborating in Sky News’ The Battle for Number 10, requested Ms Truss to apologise for initially planning to introduce a coverage which was “actually quite offensive”.
Ms Truss refused to do that, repeating that the media had “misrepresented” the proposal and that she is “not going ahead with this policy because of the concerns that have been expressed”.
Asked by presenter Kay Burley how she reached the £8.8bn determine if the coverage was “misinterpreted”, the overseas secretary admitted: “I don’t have the details.”
She added: “I do accept that the way the policy has been interpreted to cover those people was not right. And that’s why I took an immediate decision not to go ahead with it.”
Elsewhere within the Sky News particular management programme, Ms Truss seemingly carried out one other U-turn by rowing again on her earlier perception that extra houses needs to be constructed on greenbelt land to spice up the economic system.
“I’ve changed my view on that,” Ms Truss stated when probed on the matter, including: “What I’ve seen is the way these top down targets have resulted in having the opposite effect of getting the homes built.
“And I’m now of the view that what we have to do is have incentives to get native councils to arrange funding zones and do issues otherwise, as a result of the present system is not working.”
Other key points during each candidates’ 45-minute long grilling included:
• Ms Truss later told the audience: “There are not any skeletons in my closet. I believe all the things I’ve ever stated and completed is understood about very publicly.”
• The foreign secretary said “it might be unsuitable for us to provide away any territory on behalf of the Ukrainians”.
• Ms Truss said she would not visit Taiwan if she becomes prime minister
• Ms Truss said she would support doctors and nurses by “eradicating a number of the central diktats” and by “having fewer layers of administration”.
• When told by an audience member that her policies are “not sound economics”, Ms Truss said “making an attempt to steadiness the books prematurely is definitely counterproductive”.
• The overseas secretary refused to say whether or not she would strip the Tory whip from Boris Johnson if he’s discovered to have lied to MPs.
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