Liz Truss Urges Rishi Sunak To Give Fracking The Green Light And Cut Taxes

Liz Truss will today urge Rishi Sunak to give his support for fracking and commit to slashing business taxes before the next election.

The former prime minister will tell her former Tory leadership rival that both policies are necessary to grow the British economy.

Truss has angered many in the party by deciding to appear at this year’s Conservative conference in Manchester less than a year after she was humiliatingly forced to resign as PM.

She will appear alongside the likes of Priti Patel and Jacob Rees-Mogg at a “Great British Growth” rally on the fringes of the annual gathering.

Truss will use her appearance to push for the government to support two of the policies she tried and failed to implement during her seven weeks in No.10 – shale gas exploration and cutting corporation tax from 25p to 19p in the pound.

She will say: “By the end of this decade, if we don’t get fracking for shale, the UK is set to import over two thirds of the gas we need – from places over which we have no control.

“That puts our security at risk, it’s expensive, and it’s worse for the planet – you have to burn petroleum to get it here. I’ve never understood why environmental activists prefer importing gas from abroad instead of producing it here at home.”

“Fracking here in the UK – as they do in the US – could cut family gas bills by as much as half.”

On corporation tax, she will say: “We can’t stand idly while companies like AstraZeneca move operations abroad because of our huge tax burden or small businesses shut up shop because they are drowning in red tape.

“We should be hungry to attract the world’s best businesses and encouraging people to start businesses here at home. We must not normalise the raiding of businesses’ coffers.

“So ahead of this year’s autumn statement, we must make the Conservative Party the party of business once again, by getting corporation tax back down to 19%.”

Ben Houchen, the Tory mayor of Tees Valley, said Truss should not even be at the conference.

Speaking at a conference fringe event hosted by the Onward think-tank, Houchen he said: “I thought Liz Truss would have more awareness than to, for example, come to Conservative Party conference. I don’t think she should be here.

“If you look last year Rishi didn’t come. Because she was the prime minister. I think he did the right, grown up, sensible thing.

Houchen added: “I am disappointed to see Liz has chosen to take a different path.”