Labour vows not to ‘cease and desist from truth’ despite Truss lawyers’ demand
Lawyers for Liz Truss have sent a letter to Sir Keir Starmer about ‘false and defamatory public statements’ made about their client.
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Your support makes all the difference.Labour will not “cease and desist from telling the truth” about Liz Truss’s “kamikaze budget”, the House of Commons Leader has vowed.
Lucy Powell defended her party’s first six months in Government and pledged “sound public finances” after Conservative shadow leader Jesse Norman suggested Labour could look at adopting “new year’s resolutions”.
Lawyers at Asserson, on behalf of former prime minister Ms Truss, have sent a letter to Sir Keir Starmer about “false and defamatory public statements you made about our client in the lead-up to the UK general election from late May 2024”.
They asked the Prime Minister to “immediately cease and desist” from repeating a claim he made last June, in which he talks about Ms Truss “crashing” or having “crashed” the economy.
At the despatch box on Thursday, Ms Powell told MPs: “She might want us to cease and desist, but we won’t cease and desist from telling the truth that they (the Conservatives) crashed the economy.”
She earlier said Mr Norman had “admitted himself that we inherited – and I quote – ‘a struggling economy with anaemic growth’ and our commitment to economic stability, sound public finances, and meeting the fiscal rules is non-negotiable”.
The Cabinet minister continued: “We are only borrowing for investment and we will see net debt fall, and as he knows well, the cost of debt fluctuates often because of global markets.
“But I have to say this is in stark contrast to the chaos we saw under his government when Liz Truss’s kamikaze budget directly and immediately led to the gilt market crashing, leaving the Bank of England to intervene to buy up Government bonds.”
Opening the first Business Questions of 2025, Mr Norman said new year was “a time when people step back, look at themselves in the mirror, pinch an inch or perhaps two, and perhaps make a few resolutions: lay off the pies, resist the siren call of the cheeseboard, spend less on self indulgences and more on things that matter, take themselves in hand and perhaps try to manage themselves a bit better”.
He told the Commons: “The Government might consider adopting these new year’s resolutions for itself.”
The Conservative shadow Commons leader urged: “Stop taking politically driven measures that actively hurt the economy. Stop punishing the retail and hospitality sectors that give so many young people their first jobs. Stop attacking farmers and the rural economy.
“Stop the madness of the Employment Rights Bill that makes it harder than ever to start and build a business. We should be celebrating and rewarding drive, energy, aspiration and entrepreneurship, not undermining them.
“Secondly, come clean to the people of this country about the Government’s own uncertainty, conflicts and incompetence. We’ve had endless announcements of new commissions initiatives, each testimony to Labour’s hopeless lack of planning before the election.”
Mr Norman had earlier described “severe investor worry” as yields on government bonds – which reflect the cost of government borrowing – rose, up eight basis points to 4.89 for 10-year gilts, which is the highest since 2008.
Ms Powell also referenced a debate on Wednesday about whether the Government should establish a national statutory inquiry into historical child sexual exploitation, focused on grooming gangs.
She said during her and Mr Norman’s exchange: “It’s the new year but I’m afraid it is the same old Tories.
“I mean, their (the Conservatives’) decision to vote down the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill yesterday was another huge misjudgment.
“They seem to have learned nothing and are incapable of accepting they got things wrong or what it takes to rebuild trust.
“The victims of grooming gangs need politicians to hear their voice, to act without fear or favour, and to take all necessary steps to root out and bring justice to perpetrators and enablers, whoever they are.
“They do not need pathetic and blatant political bandwagon jumping.”
A Conservative amendment which included a call for a national grooming gangs inquiry, but would have blocked the overall Bill, fell 364 votes to 111, majority 253.
The Bill, which will undergo further scrutiny at a later date, includes provision for new registers of children who are not in school, and a national insurance-style identifier for children which the Government has said will help to “join up systems and make sure no child falls through the cracks”.