Liz Truss sends 'cease and desist' to Keir Starmer warning him to stop saying she crashed the economy
Lawyers say the claims are causing serious harm to her reputation
Last updated 9th Jan 2025
Former MP for South West Norfolk Liz Truss has sent a "cease and desist" letter to Sir Keir Starmer, warning him to stop saying she crashed the economy.
Lawyers for the former Prime Minister say the claims about her mini-budget in September 2022 are defamatory and are causing serious harm to her reputation.
It also suggests that saying the former Conservative prime minster crashed the economy was "likely to materially impact public opinion" at the last general election when she lost her Norfolk seat.
Ms Truss, who became prime minister in September 2022, announced her resignation less than seven weeks later following a mini-budget in which she announced wide-ranging tax cuts.
The letter - sent by lawyers at Asserson - refers to comments made by Sir Keir in June 2024 in which he talks about Ms Truss "crashing" or having "crashed" the economy.
"Of particular concern are the false and defamatory public statements you made about our client in the lead-up to the UK general election from late May 2024," it reads.
"At a time when you knew or ought to have known that those statements were false; and the statements were likely to materially impact public opinion of our client whilst she was standing as the parliamentary candidate for the Conservative Party in South West Norfolk".
The letter argues that the market movement during Ms Truss's tenure in September and October 2022 should not be classified as a crash of the economy.
The weeks following Ms Truss's mini-budget saw adverse market reaction and mortgage costs soar.
Referring to the movements in gilts and exchange rates at that time, the letter says: "Such rate movements cannot properly be described as a crash of the economy.
"To use such an expression is to display ignorance of basic economics and common usage of the term 'crash' when referred to an economy."
The lawyers also suggest that Sir Keir's repetition of the claims in the lead up to last year's general election "gives rise to a strong inference" that they were intended to "damage our client's reputation and/or for political purposes".
It asks for the Prime Minister to "immediately cease and desist" from repeating the claims.
At the Conservative Party conference in October, Ms Truss said it would be "economic illiteracy" to suggest that tax rises from Labour - at that point anticipated in Rachel Reeves' upcoming first budget - were a result of her economic inheritance.
What does the Prime Minister say?
Sir Keir Starmer will not be moderating his language about Liz Truss's record in office, Downing Street has suggested, after lawyers representing her sent the Prime Minister a letter asking him to stop saying she crashed the economy.
Asked whether the Prime Minister stands by his assertion that the former premier tanked the economy, his official spokesman said: "There's only so much I can talk about previous administrations, but you've got the Prime Minister's language which he absolutely stands by in relation to the previous government's record, and you don't have to take it from the Prime Minister.
"I think you can ask people up and down the country what the impact of previous economic management was on their mortgages, on inflation, and I think you'll get similar answers.
"But what we're focused on now is the decisions this Government needs to take to ensure that we tackle the long-standing underlying weaknesses in the UK economy that you know have obviously been around for many years - low productivity, low growth - because ultimately they are the fundamental reasons why wages have been low over recent years and... the Government's number one mission (is) to deliver growth and deliver higher living standards for working people.
Asked whether Sir Keir had plans to moderate his language, he said: "No."
Downing Street also questioned whether former prime minister Liz Truss would be writing to "millions of people up and down" the country who shared Sir Keir Starmer's view.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "I am not sure I have seen the detail of the letter, but from what I can my gather, I don't think the Prime Minister is the only person in the country who shares the view in relation to the previous government's handling of the economy.
"I guess the question is whether she will be writing to millions of people up and down the country as well, who felt her economic record which pushed their mortgage bills up."