Tory members hail ‘inspiring’ Liz Truss and tell rowing MPs to ‘shut up or ship out’ and remember who elected her after leader’s protest-interrupted speech to party conference
Liz Truss’s speech to the Tory faithful appeared to go down well with party members in the hall, who vented their fury at warring MPs afterwards.
Trying to draw a line under days of damaging splits over tax rates and benefits, the PM told activists in Birmingham she is determined to take the country through the ‘tempest’ of the global economic crisis after Covid and the war in Ukraine.
And she spelt out a starkly different vision from that espoused by Labour, promising her government will let people keep more of their earnings and stay out of their lives as much as possible.
Liz Truss said in her keynote Tory conference speech: ‘I know that we can do better and we must do better.’
In a true-blue Tory message, Ms Truss said she ‘loved’ business and enterprise. ‘I’m not going to tell you what to do, or what to think or how to live your life,’ she said.
‘I’m not interested in how many two-for-one offers you buy at the supermarket, how you spend your spare time or in virtue signalling.
‘I’m not interested in just talking about things, but in actually doing things.’
Ms Truss said that the abolition of the 45p rate had to be abandoned because it had become a ‘distraction’ from the government’s wider agenda.
In an apparent attempt to cool nerves on markets over borrowing to fund tax cuts, she said she believed in ‘sound money’. ‘I get it. And I have listened,’ she said.
But Ms Truss stressed that did not mean she was ditching her commitment to lower taxes.
‘I believe in getting value for the taxpayer. I believe in sound money and a lean state. I remember my shock opening my first paycheck to see how much money the tax man had taken out,’ she said.
‘I know this feeling is replicated across the country.’
Pointing to her energy bills bailout and tax cuts since entering No10, Ms Truss insisted that she was ready to help struggling families: ‘I refused to consign our great country to decline.’
She said she had three priorities for the economy – ‘growth growth and growth’. ‘Growth means more money in people’s pockets,’ she said.
In a highly personal appeal, she said she had ‘fought’ to be where she is – relating how she went to a comprehensive school and was once given a junior hostess badge while her brothers received a junior pilot badge.
Making what seemed to be an oblique jibe at critics on her own benches, Ms Truss said: ‘I know how it feels to have your potential diminished by those who think they know better.’
With many of her opponents either not coming to Birmingham in the first place or leaving early before her speech to avoid rail strikes, those who stayed to watch the speech were always likely to be mainly her supporters.
Here are the views of some of those who watched the speech live in Birmingham:
‘Dinosaurs MPs need to shut up or ship out’
Councillor Onnalee Cubbitt and business Jonathan Kane
Basingstoke Tory councillor Onnalee Cubbitt said the speech has been ‘outstanding’ and blasted MPs opposed to Ms Truss’s plans.
She told MailOnline that ‘the dinosaurs need to shut up or ship out’ as she left the hall with businessman Jonathan Kane, from London.
Ms Cubitt blasted Michael Gove to his face on Sunday over his opposition to the PM’s tax cutting plans.
‘The speech was outstanding,’ she said today. ‘She was pitch-perfect and she spoke to the country. Her delivery was perfect.
‘MPs need to understand the members chose her, she understands democracy. They should get behind her, the dinosaurs need to shut up or ship out.’
Mr Kane, who runs his own business, added that he was ‘delighted’ by the speech.
‘I’m pleased with what she wants to do. We need the economy to grow and employ more people and get rid of regulations. This allows our businesses to look ahead with great excitement.’
‘She said all the right things, let’s see if she does the right things’
George, a party member from Lincolnshire, who is a student in Birmingham, enjoyed the speech but was slightly more circumspect.
George, a party member from Lincolnshire, who is a student in Birmingham, enjoyed the speech but was slightly more circumspect.
He told MailOnline: ‘She said all the right things, let’s see if she does the right things.
‘The response in there was great.’
‘It was great. I think when she ad libs she does it well’
Patrice Marriott from Kensington in London also praised the speech and Ms Truss’s delivery.
Greenpeace activists staged a protest during the Prime Minister’s conference speech on Wednesday, brandishing a flag reading ‘who voted for this?’.
Patrice Marriott from Kensington in London also praised the speech and Ms Truss’s delivery.
‘I liked the way that she put forward a number of her messages and what her expectations were.
‘It was great. I think when she ad libs she does it well. I know she has a set piece and has a message to get across but all the adlibs were really on the nose.’
Greenpeace activists staged a protest during the Prime Minister’s conference speech on Wednesday, brandishing a flag reading ‘who voted for this?’.
The protesters, ejected from the hall shortly afterwards, interrupted Liz Truss’s televised leader’s speech at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham to protest plans that Greenpeace said nobody voted for.
Ms Truss could be heard saying ‘let’s get them removed’, before being roundly cheered and applauded by party members as the protesters were lead away.
‘Everyone needs to give Liz Truss a chance’
Mother and son councillors Mary and Michael Green came to conference from Lancashire.
Mother and son councillors Mary and Michael Green came to conference from Lancashire.
Mrs Green, who sits on South Ribble Council, told MailOnline: ‘It was very good, very inspiring. I think everyone needs to give Liz Truss a chance.’
Mr Green, who sits on South Ribble and Ribble Valley councils, added that the party needed to unite around Ms Truss. ‘We have a prime minister in place who has set out a vision for the country: cutting taxes and regulations and standing up for the country, cutting immigration and protecting the NHS.
‘This is not a visit you would have got at a Labour conference.’
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