UK's Truss says she should have laid ground better for economic plan

British Prime Minister Liz Truss moved to reassure her party and the public on Sunday, saying she should have done more to "lay the ground" better to try to minimise market reaction, which saw the pound hit record lows and government borrowing costs soar.

On the first day of her governing Conservative Party's annual conference, Truss, in power for less than a month, adopted a softer tone by trying to reassure the public she would look after them during a difficult winter and beyond.

But she stood by her "growth plan" that investors and economists have criticised for setting out billions of pounds of additional spending while offering very few details on how it would be paid for in the short term.

"I understand their worries about what has happened this week," she told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show.

"I do stand by the package we announced, and I stand by the fact that we announced it quickly because we had to act, but I do accept that we should have laid the ground better," she said.

TAX ISSUE

Truss also said on Sunday her cabinet of top ministers was not informed in advance that the government planned to abolish the top rate of tax, adding it was a decision taken by finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng.

The government sparked turmoil in financial markets last month after Kwarteng delivered a plan to cut taxes, mainly benefitting the wealthiest, without detailing the impact on the public finances or how ministers would reform the economy to spur growth.

Truss's comment that it was Kwarteng's decision to remove the top rate of income tax is the first sign Truss might be trying to distance herself from her chancellor. However, she also reiterated the government was sticking with the policy.

Asked whether all her cabinet was told of the move, Truss told the BBC: "No, no we didn't. It was a decision that the chancellor made."

Truss said: "When budgets are developed, they are developed in a very confidential way. They are very market sensitive. Of course, the cabinet is briefed, but it is never the case on budgets that they are created by the whole cabinet."

According to the Sunday Times, Kwarteng attended a champagne reception with hedge fund managers at the home of a Conservative donor on the same day he delivered his mini-budget.

One source told the newspaper that guests told Kwarteng to "double down" on his radical tax cutting plans.

Truss said her finance minister met business people all the time as "that's his job".

The opposition Liberal Democrats called for an official investigation into what happened.

Jake Berry, chairman of the Conservatives, said he also attended the event, when the finance minister gave a short speech that did not include any insight into the government's future plans.

Berry said Kwarteng in his speech at the event "did not give any insight into future plans and I'm sure in terms of his private conversations he didn't give any".