Liz Truss wanted government turned up to 11, says former aide

Liz Truss took a "Spinal Tap approach" to government, with the measurement turned up to 11, her erstwhile main speechwriter has told the BBC.

Asa Bennett said Ms Truss demanded "fast action" to enactment "rocket boosters" connected the British economy.

It was a "bitter regret for america all...it didn't travel disconnected similar that," helium added.

Ms Truss's authorities lasted conscionable 7 weeks aft its mini-budget spooked fiscal markets, prompting Tory MPs to revolt and forcing her resignation.

Spinal Tap are a spoof dense metallic radical created by a squad of comedians and musicians, who famously had amplifiers that were "one louder" than 10.

Mr Bennett, who had antecedently worked for Ms Truss erstwhile she headed the Department for International and the Foreign Office, was interviewed by the BBC's Nick Robinson for a Radio 4 documentary, Liz Truss's Big Gamble.

Asked whether she regretted her attack successful Downing Street, Mr Bennett said: "I deliberation Liz felt that she's gambled earlier successful her beingness and past she could gamble again connected this. And yes, the stakes would beryllium high, but the pay-off was worthy it successful the consciousness of taking that accelerated action.

"And astatine the aforesaid clip Liz was idiosyncratic who knew what she thought, known it for years, and truthful yet had the biggest accidental yet to marque her programme a reality.

"Of course, it volition beryllium nary uncertainty a bitter regret for america each and her astir of each that it didn't travel disconnected similar that."

He said Ms Truss had been made alert of the risks, but trusted her instincts.

"And truthful erstwhile she hears these things, she's idiosyncratic who feels that she tin person the courageousness of her convictions. She's heard each the views. She was astatine the Treasury [as main secretary] successful the past, and she would beryllium wide successful her caput however to bash things better."

Mr Bennett said the then-prime curate regarded the Treasury's attack to economical argumentation arsenic "this benignant of tired, stale, presumption quo benignant of thinking".

"And that is wherefore she felt it truly was clip to instrumentality the hard decisions and basal it retired by trying to interruption with the benignant of consensus, the cosy statement that meant that Britain had been flagging on with planetary competitiveness," helium added.

On the decision to sack the Treasury's apical civilian servant, Sir Tom Scholar, Mr Bennett suggested Ms Truss saw him arsenic a awesome of the "senior Treasury civilian servants who person presided successful her caput implicit persistently debased growth, chronically and persistently debased productivity".

The Treasury orthodoxy "was thing that conscionable had to alteration due to the fact that it was not capable to unleash Britain's imaginable successful her view", helium said.

He said Ms Truss had spent years sitting astir the furniture array and felt she knew what the solutions were to the country's economical problems. "She besides knew that this was the infinitesimal to enactment rocket boosters connected the system and get maturation going."

She was, helium said, "someone who would ever effort and instrumentality things up a notch. I deliberation she ever liked to beryllium the 1 that was acceptable to propulsion the envelope and would lone backmost down if determination was bully reason".

"I deliberation Liz was idiosyncratic who would instrumentality this benignant of Spinal Tap approach, crook it up to 11, and lone if necessary, crook it down again," helium added.

Boris Johnson's erstwhile apical adjutant Dominic Cummings dubbed Ms Truss the "human manus grenade" and claimed her

Mr Bennett said Ms Truss came to respect the nickname arsenic "a compliment, not an insult".

"She's been dismissed and mocked by radical successful Westminster and the media implicit the years... And truthful she's recovered past that she could laughter these things off.

"She tin clasp the jokes, and that's a portion of her personality. Then she could spot that she was bullet-proof arsenic a result."

Mr Bennett said that was precise hard for her. "Liz and Kwasi are very, precise adjacent friends, longstanding friends. They lived successful the aforesaid country of London. They'd known each different for a while.

"They had written books together. They knew that they some thought the aforesaid mode astir what needed to beryllium done.

"And truthful that's wherefore it was specified a hard decision, nary doubt, for her to person to determine that helium had to spell astatine slightest to effort and prevention her premiership."

Most of the mini-budget's tax-cutting measures were past ditched.

In her farewell code extracurricular No 10, Ms Truss defended her low-tax vision, saying: "We simply tin not spend to beryllium a low-growth state wherever the authorities takes up an expanding stock of our nationalist wealth."

But successful an earlier interview, she said she took work for going "too far, excessively fast" with the taxation cuts successful the mini-budget.

Liz Truss's Big Gamble, the wrong communicative of the UK's shortest-ever premiership, volition beryllium broadcast connected Radio 4 astatine 20:00 connected 3 December and volition beryllium disposable connected BBC Sounds