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Recession isn’t inevitable and I’ll do whatever I can to stop it, Liz Truss vows
LIZ Truss has claimed a recession is NOT inevitable and she will slash taxes to stop one from unleashing misery this year.
The Tory leadership frontrunner told Sky News that the Bank of England's prediction a recession will hit in winter can still be changed.
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Ms Truss and rival Rishi Sunak faced a live Q&A grilling by Tory members on Sky News tonight.
Speaking to a studio audience in London, the Foreign Secretary said: "We can change the (Bank of England's) outcome and we can make it more likely that the economy grows.
"But what's important is first of all, we need to help people struggling with the cost of living and I would immediately reverse the National Insurance increase."
Mr Sunak hit back at Ms Truss's economic plan, saying it will result in "misery for millions".
Today hard-pressed families were hit with a record interest rate rise to 1.75 per cent as the Bank of England warned of a year-long recession hitting towards the end of the year.
Adding to the doom and gloom, regulator Ofgem announced energy bills will rise every three months as part of a massive billing shake-up.
The Tory leadership contenders accused one another of promising economic policies that will only make Britain’s inflation hell worse.
Ms Truss wants to slash taxes within seven weeks of making No10 home.
Mr Sunak said her plan is “premature”, would stoke inflation and drive up mortgage payments.
He wants to wait seven years before slashing the basic rate of income tax from 20p to 16p.
Hitting back, Ms Truss was claimed that waiting seven years to turbo-charge the economy with tax cuts is worse.
She argued her plans "are necessary, affordable and not inflationary".
The Foreign Secretary is so far winning the argument with Tory members.
According to YouGov polling a whopping 69 per cent of card carrying Conservatives want her to win the leadership race while only 31 per cent back Mr Sunak.
The ex-Chancellor told Sky News the polls won't stop him from continuing to "fight for every vote".
When asked by an audience member why he doesn't just give up, Mr Sunak said: "I'm fighting for something I really believe in. I'm taking my ideas around the country.
"I'm talking to all of you, our members across the country about what I think is best for our country."
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The Foreign Secretary was grilled by audience members on her failed plan to replace public sector national pay deals with regional pay boards.
Early this week Ms Truss pledged to "cut down on Whitehall waste" by basing civil servant pay on the local areas where workers live.
The plan triggered huge backlash from Tory MPs who described it as "horrible" and "anti levelling-up", and quickly it was reversed.
An audience member asked Ms Truss if she would apologise for her former plan.
The wannabe PM refused the request, responding: "I don't think there is anything to be ashamed of, of saying publicly that this is not working as I wanted it to work, and therefore I have changed the position on it. I'm not going ahead with it."
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On the matter of tensions in Taiwan, Ms Truss said she is concerned by China's "escalatory rhetoric" but wouldn't commit to visiting the island state.
There are concerns the Chinese Communist Party will try to invade the thriving democracy in the future.
China's army began conducting military drills in Taiwan early this week in response to a visit by Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
Ms Truss said: "It's a very important principle that we do not allow aggressors to invade, democratic and democratic place at the scene."
Mr Sunak was attacked over his lack of promises on defence spending.
The Foreign Secretary pledged to hike funding to Britain's armed force to three per cent of GDP.
But the ex-Chancellor has refused to put a figure on how much more - if any - he will spend.
Mr Sunak did however clarify he will invest "whatever it takes to keep you and everyone else in our country safe".
Discussing character and integrity, Ms Truss said that there are "no skeletons in my closet".
"I think everything I've ever said and done is made about very public," the leadership frontrunner said.
Mr Sunak promised to always be "honest" and "straight" with the public about the challenges Britain faces.
One audience member accused the ex-Chancellor of not being trustworthy because he resigned from Boris Johnson's government.
Mr Sunak defended stepping down saying he and the PM had irreconcilable views on economic policy.
The underdog candidate added that he had ethical issues with staying in post, particularly around the Chris Pincher scandal.
He said: "Everyone remembered what was going on with Chris pincher, right.
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"That was a serious ethical question that the government was on the wrong side of again."
At the end of the Sky News Q&A session a majority of the audience indicated they would prefer Mr Sunak to be the next PM.