Liz Truss sends Starmer cease and desist letter over claims she crashed economy
Share:
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. 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.
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. 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”.
