Liz Truss sends Starmer cease and desist letter over claims she crashed economy

Lawyers representing Liz Truss have sent a cease and desist letter to Sir Keir Starmer asking him to stop saying the former prime minister crashed the economy.

The letter, first reported by The Telegraph, states that the Prime Minister’s claims that his predecessor “crashed the economy” or was “crashing the economy” are defamatory and “false and misleading”.

It also suggests that saying the former Conservative prime minster crashed the economy “were 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.

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June 2024

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.

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'Ignorance'

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.