Former Cabinet Minister Refuses To Say He Would Vote For Liz Truss' Financial Plans

Simon Hart says he will not "pledge" to back Tory leadership frontrunner's proposals.
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Former cabinet minister Simon Hart has refused to say whether he would back Liz Truss’s financial policies if she becomes prime minister.

Hart, who is backing Rishi Sunak in the Conservative Party leadership contest, said the former chancellor was the “serious” candidate.

Asked if he would consider voting against Truss’ financial plans he told Times Radio: “Liz Truss is a … different offer.

“I think there’s been enough economic analysts out there spooked by some of the proposals for me to be nervous about what I’ve heard so far.

“But I’m not going to sit here … and say I hereby pledge that I’m going to vote for or against (proposals) we haven’t even seen yet.

“We’ve got to get this right and we need somebody serious who’s done this before and proven that he can do it.”

Hart served as Welsh secretary between December 2019 and July 2022.

Truss, who is the frontrunner, is expected to move to cut taxes immediately in a so-called fiscal event in mid-September, should she win the race.

Last week Sunak said he would vote for Truss’ economic plan despite having attacked it as “dangerous” and warned it risked an “inflation spiral”.

He told BBC Radio 4′s World at One: “Of course I would,” he said. “I would always support a Conservative Government. Of course I would. It goes without saying.”

He added: “I believe very strongly in the Conservative party, and I want it to do well and I will always - whether as a minister or as a backbencher – always support Conservative government.”

It comes after Boris Johnson said that whoever succeeds him in No.10 would announce “another huge package of financial support” as Britain faces sky-high costs this winter.

The outgoing PM hinted at the scale of the options to ease the burden being teed up for either Truss or Sunak to consider, as he insisted “we must and we will help people through the crisis”.