Conservative leadership hopeful Liz Truss said on Wednesday that she was "on the side of people who work hard" after a leaked recording caught her doubting the diligence of British workers.
During a campaign stop in Northern Ireland, where she and rival candidate Rishi Sunak sparred in the eighth of 12 Tory hustings, Ms Truss was challenged about her earlier statement that there was a "fundamental issue with British working culture... what needs to happen is, you know, a bit more graft".
The comments, revealed by the Guardian and dating from Ms Truss's time at the Treasury between 2017 and 2019, were described as a "total disgrace" by the opposition and jolted her campaign as the race to be Britain's next prime minister nears its final stages.
Ms Truss, now the foreign secretary, responded by saying in Northern Ireland that Britain needed more investment and skills and to "help more people get into work... we have a number of people across the country who are currently economically inactive".
"I’m fundamentally on the side of people who work hard, who do the right thing," she said.
During the hustings, Ms Truss said she was determined to steer the Northern Ireland Protocol bill through Parliament, despite stiff opposition to a move that would unilaterally discard part of the Brexit deal with the European Union.
Mr Sunak said there was not much between the candidates on that point, but said he would negotiate with the EU, France and the Republic of Ireland to seek a swifter resolution if possible because the bill "will take time to pass".
The EU accuses Britain of breaching international law by going back on its commitments under the protocol, designed to keep goods moving across the Irish border and avoid inflaming sectarian tensions by bringing in new checks.
The leaked recording comes as Ms Truss emphatically leads rival Rishi Sunak in polls for the race to become prime minister when Boris Johnson stands down early next month.
Ms Truss said in the recording that workers' "mindset and attitude" were partly to blame for the UK's relatively poor productivity.
The two-minute audio clip dates from her time as a senior minister in the finance ministry between 2017 and 2019.
"It's working culture basically," Ms Truss said in the recording obtained by The Guardian newspaper, adding British workers needed "more graft".
"If you go to China it's quite different, I can assure you," she said. "There's a fundamental issue of British working culture … I don't think people are that keen to change."
She also raised regional hackles by saying that productivity was "very, very different in London from the rest of the country".
"It's a total disgrace, what Liz Truss has said. I think it reveals what she really thinks," said Yvette Cooper, a senior MP in the opposition Labour Party.
"She has absolutely no idea that people are working incredibly hard... who are facing these nightmare inflation figures, these soaring energy bills and doing their best to keep everything together."
A Truss ally, former chancellor Sajid Javid, said British workers were "among the hardest-working in the world" but said Ms Truss was right to flag up low productivity.
Asked about the regional disparity, he told Sky News: "I think what she's talking about is business and investment... if we don't increase our growth rate, we won't be able to pay for those investments."
The party's up to 200,000-strong membership has already starting voting for their next leader, who then becomes prime minister.
The result of the summer-long contest will be announced on September 5, with the new leader set to take charge the following day.
The two leadership contenders, who have waged a bitter battle over recent weeks featuring hostile briefings and counter-briefings by their camps, headed across the Irish Sea after a campaign stop in Scotland on Tuesday evening.
UK Conservatives on the leadership campaign trail — in pictures
Ms Truss's remarks echo controversial arguments made in a 2012 book she co-wrote, Britannia Unchained, in which British workers were described as among the "worst idlers in the world".
Asked about it at a leadership debate last month, she distanced herself from the contentious assessment, claiming co-writer and Sunak supporter Dominic Raab, who is Justice Minister, had penned it.
Mr Raab has subsequently said the writers of the book, which included several other senior Conservative ministers, had agreed on "collective responsibility" over its contents.
In the audio, Ms Truss — who supported staying in the EU during the divisive 2016 referendum before later becoming a Brexit supporter — also appeared to suggest the bloc and migration were unfairly criticised.
"We say it's all Europe that's causing all these problems. It's all, 'It's migrants that's causing problems'.
"But actually what needs to happen is, you know, a bit more graft," she said with a laugh, before adding: "It's not a popular message".
Everything you need to know about Liz Truss - video
A Truss campaign source branded the leaked comments "half-a-decade-old" and lacking context, while saying that Britain does "need to boost productivity".
"As prime minister, Liz will deliver an economy that is high wage, high growth and low tax," the source said.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Newcastle United 1 (Carroll 82')
Leicester City 2 (Maddison 55', Tielemans 72')
Man of the match James Maddison (Leicester)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Results
Female 49kg: Mayssa Bastos (BRA) bt Thamires Aquino (BRA); points 0-0 (advantage points points 1-0).
Female 55kg: Bianca Basilio (BRA) bt Amal Amjahid (BEL); points 4-2.
Female 62kg: Beatriz Mesquita (BRA) v Ffion Davies (GBR); 10-2.
Female 70kg: Thamara Silva (BRA) bt Alessandra Moss (AUS); submission.
Female 90kg: Gabreili Passanha (BRA) bt Claire-France Thevenon (FRA); submission.
Male 56kg: Hiago George (BRA) bt Carlos Alberto da Silva (BRA); 2-2 (2-0)
Male 62kg: Gabriel de Sousa (BRA) bt Joao Miyao (BRA); 2-2 (2-1)
Male 69kg: Paulo Miyao (BRA) bt Isaac Doederlein (USA); 2-2 (2-2) Ref decision.
Male 77kg: Tommy Langarkar (NOR) by Oliver Lovell (GBR); submission.
Male 85kg: Rudson Mateus Teles (BRA) bt Faisal Al Ketbi (UAE); 2-2 (1-1) Ref decision.
Male 94kg: Kaynan Duarte (BRA) bt Adam Wardzinski (POL); submission.
Male 110kg: Joao Rocha (BRA) bt Yahia Mansoor Al Hammadi (UAE); submission.
Three tips from La Perle's performers
1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.
2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.
3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.
F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Ticket prices
- Golden circle - Dh995
- Floor Standing - Dh495
- Lower Bowl Platinum - Dh95
- Lower Bowl premium - Dh795
- Lower Bowl Plus - Dh695
- Lower Bowl Standard- Dh595
- Upper Bowl Premium - Dh395
- Upper Bowl standard - Dh295
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE CLOWN OF GAZA
Director: Abdulrahman Sabbah
Starring: Alaa Meqdad
Rating: 4/5
