Liz Truss has abandoned a leadership pledge to slash public sector pay for workers outside southeast England just 12 hours after it was announced, following a huge backlash from fellow Tories.
Ben Houchen, an influential Conservative mayor who is backing Rishi Sunak to replace Boris Johnson as PM, said he was “absolutely speechless” over the proposals which he warned would “undo” progress made in parts of the country such as his local Teesside.
He was just one of many who criticised the foreign secretary’s plan to slash £8.8 bn from public sector pay outside London, which prompted warnings that nurses, police officers and teachers would be left poorer.
Unions had told Ms Truss to expect “opposition every step of the way”, while Labour said the plans would sound the death knell for the government’s levelling up agenda.
Ms Truss also sparked fury after branding Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon an “attention-seeker” who should be ignored, in comments at the Tory hustings in Exeter on Monday dubbed “deeply troubling” by Ms Sturgeon’s deputy, John Swinney.
