She also defended her position on Brexit as a former supporter, arguing that the disruption she was worried about before the referendum did not happen, despite long queues recently seen at Channel crossings at the start of the school holidays. Asked for the first time in front of Conservative MPs about a controversial policy she was forced to roll back earlier this week, the front-runner in the Tory leadership race said she never intended to cut the pay of teachers and nurses. She made the comments despite her campaign announcing on Monday night a policy to cut spending on public service staff outside London. “It was misconstrued … by the media,” Truss told a crowd of Tory MPs in Cardiff, for the third campaign event. “It was never intended to apply to nurses, doctors and teachers. So I wanted to clear this up right away. And I was very clear. We are now not moving forward with this policy. “It was not a central part of my political platform. And I’ve made it clear that it’s not happening.” Truss, whose campaign received a boost earlier on Wednesday with the support of former health secretary Sajid Javid, was pressed on how she would cover the shortfall of what her campaign estimates would be equivalent to £8.8 billion in savings. Truss said, “This is not part of my central costing.” It said its economic pledges were lifting the rise in national insurance, keeping company tax low and putting a temporary moratorium on the green levy, which is added to domestic energy bills. “These policies will cost around £30bn and will be funded from general taxation,” he said. “And we’ll still be able to see the debt come down after three years. Now the policy you are referring to was something much longer term. It was not about the immediate time frame. But as I said, we will not proceed. “It’s not happening and I’ve been very clear about that. I’m someone who, when things are misinterpreted, when mistakes are made, I’m honest about it.” Her opponent, Rishi Sunak, said cutting workers’ wages was not conservative and he was glad Truss had changed her mind. “I don’t think it makes sense to go on a spree of unfunded promises costing tens and tens of millions of pounds,” he said. Sunak said cutting taxes too quickly with unbound spending commitments “risks making the situation worse” and “risks taking a lot longer.” He won the support of two former cabinet ministers who served under Margaret Thatcher. Michael Howard, former Tory leader, introduced Sunak on Wednesday night, saying Thatcher hated inflation, increased borrowing, unfunded tax cuts and those who told people what they wanted to hear rather than the truth . “So is Rishi Sunak,” he said repeatedly. Nigel Lawson, Thatcher’s former chancellor, said Ted Heath’s “dash for growth” policy helped spiral inflation out of control in the 1970s and Truss’ pledges were “uncomfortably reminiscent of the mistakes of the Tory government 50 years ago ». Elsewhere during the games in Cardiff, Sunak appeared open to scrapping inheritance tax, telling an audience member: “It’s something we have to look at.” He heaped praise on Truss, saying they were “members of the same family” and whoever won would remember his real opponent was Keir Starmer. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Meanwhile, Truss doubled down on her criticism of Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, accusing her of being “grossly irresponsible” by using the “entire resources” of the Scottish Government to “run an independence campaign – grossly irresponsible”. She also took aim at Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, calling the Labor politician “a low-energy version of Jeremy Corbyn”. Seeking to avoid further blue-on-blue attacks, Truss said she wished she had taken part in fewer televised debates to avoid Conservative leadership candidates airing their “dirty linen in public”. Asked about her previous membership of the Lib Dems and her support for Remain, Truss said: “I’ve always said that if we weren’t part of the European Union I wouldn’t want to be a part of it. But I was worried about some of the disruptions. The fact is that the upset did not happen. And since the Brexit vote, I have done more than most people in government to deliver on the opportunities of Brexit.” Voting in the leadership race has been ongoing for about a month, with the winner announced on September 5.
