Hecklers interrupt Prime Minister's first conference speech
Liz Truss promised to steer the country through the “tempest” and “get Britain moving”
Last updated 5th Oct 2022
Liz Truss’s first conference speech as Tory leader was interrupted by heckling as she battled to unite her party.
In the speech itself she promised to steer the country through a “tempest” and “get Britain moving”.
Protesters holding a flag which read “who voted for this?” were ejected from the hall after disrupting the speech.
The Prime Minister sought to rally Conservative activists behind her vision of a Government wholly committed to boosting economic growth.
She told the audience in Birmingham the country was in a “new era” under the King, following the death of the Queen.
Ms Truss said: “These are stormy days.
“Together, we have mourned the death of Queen Elizabeth II, the rock on which modern Britain was built.
“We’re now in a new era under King Charles III.
“We’re dealing with the global economic crisis caused by Covid and by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s appalling war in Ukraine.
“In these tough times, we need to step up.
“I’m determined to get Britain moving, to get us through the tempest and put us on a stronger footing as a nation.”
On the 45p tax U-turn
Prime Minister Liz Truss said she and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng U-turned on abolishing the 45p tax rate on top earners because it “became a distraction”.
She told the Tory Party conference: “The fact is the abolition of the 45p tax rate became a distraction from the major parts of our growth plan.
“That is why we’re no longer proceeding with it.
“I get it and I have listened.”
An "anti-growth coalition"
Liz Truss railed against what she called an “anti-growth coalition”, which she said included “some of the people we had in the hall earlier”.
After Greenpeace protesters disrupted her Tory conference speech, the Prime Minister said: “Economic growth makes us strong at home and strong abroad and we need an economically sound and secure United Kingdom and that will mean challenging those who try to stop growth.
“I will not allow the anti-growth coalition to hold us back.
“Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, the militant unions, the vested interests dressed up as think tanks, the talking heads, the Brexit deniers, Extinction Rebellion and some of the people we had in the hall earlier.
“The fact is they prefer protesting to doing. They prefer talking on Twitter to taking tough decisions.
Liz Truss attacks opposition parties
Liz Truss accused opposition parties of lacking a plan and vision for Britain in her tirade against the “anti-growth coalition”.
The Prime Minister told the Tory conference: “Keir Starmer wants to put extra taxes on the companies we need to invest in our energy security and his sticking plaster solution will only last six months.
“He has no long-term plan and no vision for Britain.
“Mark Drakeford in Wales is cancelling road-building projects and refusing to build the M4 relief road.
“Nicola Sturgeon won’t build new nuclear power stations to solve the energy crisis in Scotland.
“Have these people ever seen tax rises they don’t like or an industry they don’t want to control?
“They don’t understand British people, they don’t understand aspiration.
“They are prepared to leave our towns and cities facing decline.”
Liz Truss's rise to PM
Liz Truss Downing Street
Liz Truss has been an MP for South West Norfolk since 2010. She was born in Oxford but her family moved to Paisley and then to Leeds. She was an activist for the Liberal Democrats while studying at Oxford but switched to the Conservatives in 1996.
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak
After a number of elimination rounds of voting by Conservative MPs Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak emerged as the two names going through to the ballot of Conservative Party members - Mr Sunak comfortably won the ballot of MPs.
Liz Truss and Brexit
Liz Truss famously reversed her position on Brexit. During the 2016 referendum, she spoke passionately in favour of Remain but became an advocate of the decision to leave the EU saying in 2022 that decision to back remain was "wrong."
Liz Truss Justice Secretary
Among her five cabinet posts, Liz Truss was Justice Secretary 2014-16 and the first woman in 1000 years to become Lord Chancellor. Since September 2021 Ms Truss has been Foreign Secretary in Boris Johnson's government.
Liz Truss hustings
The six week Conservative leadership contest saw Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak appear at hustings events across the UK, with the event in Perth the only visit in Scotland.
Liz Truss Moscow
A fortnight before Vladimir Putin's Russia invaded Ukraine, Liz Truss, as Foreign Secretary, took part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Kremlin Wall in Moscow.
Liz Truss leader
Liz Truss becomes the third woman to hold the post of Prime Minister following Margaret Thatcher and Theresa May.
Liz Truss Treasury
During the Theresa May era Liz Truss served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury - the number two to Chancellor Philip Hammond.