Liz Truss is no fiscal hawk

Was Liz Truss a fiscal hawk inside No. 10? That is the rather startling claim made by the former prime minister, speaking today at the Institute for Government about the future of economic growth. She has claimed public spending would be £35 billion lower over the next few years had her plans been followed, due to the real-term spending cuts that would have followed from not reopening the latest Spending Review. Moreover, she insists that her mini-Budget was not just about going for growth, but rather a ‘three-pronged approach’ that included ‘targeted tax freezes and reductions, supply side reform and holding public spending down.’

This is the first time we’ve heard Truss so explicitly argue that her plans included spending restraint. It seems to be a direct rebuttal to the criticism, made frequently over the past year, that her agenda was one that would have made Gordon Brown blush.

Do her claims have any merit? Independent forecasters suggest not.