Liz Truss has argued that the system is “rigged against conservative policies” as she looks to rally support for her Popular Conservatism movement.
The former prime minister, who lasted just 49 days in office, officially launched the Conservative Party’s latest faction in Westminster at the start of the month, now known as the PopCons.
The grouping aims to pile pressure on the Prime Minister to cut taxes, to adopt hardline policies on immigration and leave the European Convention on Human Rights.
In her headline address, Ms Truss said ministers shied away from measures promoted by the PopCons because they “don’t want to be unpopular”.
“The irony is that these policies are popular,” she said.
People wanted to see lower immigration and wanted illegal immigrants deported, she said, but ministers’ efforts were “constantly being stymied”.
“I believe the fundamental issue is that for year and years and years … Conservatives have not taken on the left-wing extremists,” she said.
But people have been quick to point out that conservatism dominates almost every institution in Britain, and the notion that the ‘lefties’ are in charge after 14 years of Tory rule are well wide of the mark:
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