Britain’s corporate leaders are preparing to back Liz Truss after she promised to be a “pro business” prime minister, but have raised concerns over the risk to the economy from unfunded plans to tackle the cost of living crisis.
In the early weeks of the Tory leadership battle, many business chiefs were hoping that Rishi Sunak would take over as prime minister, and saw him as the safest pair of hands for the economy. Since then Truss has won over some of these doubters with a series of promises made at hustings events, including tax cuts and regulatory reforms.
“Truss looks like the first prime minister in three who could be pro-business if she wins,” said one former Sunak-supporting business leader, who pointed to her clear plans for cuts rather than the “fiddling” with more complicated sets of deductions to offset rising taxes.