Truss sends cease and desist to Starmer demanding he stop saying she crashed the economy
Liz Truss has sent Sir Keir Starmer a cease and desist letter, warning him to stop saying she “crashed the economy”.
The former prime minister’s lawyers have said the remarks – made since the lead-up to the general election – are likely to “cause serious harm to her reputation”, claiming they are “false and defamatory”.
They also suggest that assertions made by the Labour leader before the July general election contributed to Ms Truss losing her South West Norfolk seat.
Sir Keir has repeatedly claimed the former prime minister crashed the economy, referring to the weeks after her 2022 mini-budget which sparked gilt market freefall and a run on sterling after she introduced unfunded tax cuts.
The letter, originally seen by the Telegraph, argues that the fallout did not amount to an economic crash, since there was no fall in economic output or rise in unemployment.
Ms Truss’s lawyers reference a report from Andrew Lilico, a fellow of right leaning think-tank the Institute of Economic Affairs. Mr Lilico argues there was no crash after Ms Truss’ budget, instead claiming the economy actually grew faster in the period immediately following the fiscal event.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/liz-truss-keir-starmer-legal-letter-b2676352.html