Liz Truss suffers serious setback in race for PM with ‘full-fat U-turn’ on regional pay

Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen says policy blunder could be ‘dementia tax moment’ for Sunak’s opponent

Liz Truss suffered a setback in her campaign to become prime minister on Tuesday after she abandoned a major policy barely 12 hours after it was launched.

The Tory leadership frontrunner was forced into a U-turn on plans to cut the pay of public sector workers in poorer areas after a revolt from her own party.

Ben Houchen, the Conservative mayor of Tees Valley who is backing her opponent Rishi Sunak, suggested it could be a “dementia tax moment” for Ms Truss – a reference to Theresa May’s disastrous 2017 general election campaign misstep.