Liz Truss surprises MPs by saying she has no plans to cut public spending

theguardian.com:

Liz Truss has surprised MPs by telling prime minister’s questions she has no plans to cut public spending to finance tax cuts, and that the government does plan to legislate to end no-fault evictions for renters.

In the first PMQs for over a month, and only Truss’s second since entering No 10, Keir Starmer lambasted her over what he said was the devastating impact of September’s mini-budget on mortgage rates.

“There’s no point trying to hide it,” Starmer told Truss after the prime minister had deflected a series of questions. “Everyone can see what has happened. The Tories went on a borrowing spree, sending mortgage rates through the roof.

“They are skyrocketing by £500 a month, and for nearly 2 million homeowners, their fixed-rate deals are coming to an end next year. They are worried sick. They won’t forgive, they won’t forget, and nor should they.”

But in a later exchange, Truss seemingly wrongfooted Starmer by unexpectedly saying she had no plans to cut public spending, something most economists see as inevitable to reassure financial markets due to the scale of the unfunded tax cuts unveiled in September’s mini-budget.

“During her leadership contest, the prime minister said, and I quote her exactly: ‘I’m very clear I’m not planning public spending reductions.’ Is she going to stick to that?” Starmer asked.

Truss replied: “Absolutely.” She did seem to qualify the answer by saying the government would not balance the books “by cutting public spending but by making sure we spend public money well”.

Speaking again amid cheers from the Conservative benches, Starmer began his next question saying: “They can cheer – I hope they listened very, very carefully to that last answer, because other people will have listened very, very