Truss must ‘hit the ground running’: Retail NI
Retailers in Northern Ireland say Liz Truss must hit the ground running as she takes up the mantle of UK Prime Minister.
After winning the Tory leadership contest, defeating former chancellor Rishi Sunak by 81,326 votes to 60,399, Liz Truss will replace Boris Johnson as prime minister.
Ms Truss said that as premier she will lead the Conservative Party to a “great victory” at the 2024 general election as she stressed her priority in the coming years will be delivering on policy pledges.
Delivering her victory speech at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in central London, Ms Truss said: “I know that we will deliver, we will deliver, we will deliver. And we will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024.”
Reacting to the election of Liz Truss as Leader of the Conservative Party, Retail NI Chief Executive Glyn Roberts said: “Liz Truss has a huge in tray of challenges, not least bringing forward a package of support for small businesses and independent retailers that are struggling with crippling increases in their energy bills.
“She must hit the ground running with a big bold plan for our economy and follow through on her promise to reverse the National Insurance hike.
“The cost of doing business crisis is threatening jobs and businesses across every sector of our economy. Businesses are facing a perfect storm of cost increases including energy, National Insurance, inflation, Covid recovery, and rising interest rates.
“Make no mistake, this is about saving jobs and businesses over the next months.”
Congratulating the new Prime Minister, Tony Danker, CBI Director-General, said: “This is an extraordinarily difficult time to be leading the country, and she has businesses’ full support in meeting shared challenges together, head on.
“Most immediately, support for struggling households and firms in jeopardy is top of the in-tray. This may not be the pandemic, but the exceptional circumstances we now face mean Government must play a central role in supporting our economy.
“And if we’re serious about getting the UK growing again, ensuring any slowdown is short and shallow, we need a serious plan for growth. It needs to be bold, unconventional and rooted in the very real opportunities that still exist for the UK to thrive.”
