Liz Truss has admitted she should have met with Andrew Bailey while she was in No10.
The former Prime Minister told Sky News today that she was advised against meeting the Bank of England governor but said “in retrospect” she should have done so.
She previously called for Bailey to sacked and demanded a “proper investigation” into the central bank’s response to her 2022 mini-budget.
Truss told Sky News: “I actually had a meeting set up and wanted to meet him, but I was advised that would be a bad idea.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t have taken that advice, but that advice came from the Cabinet Secretary, and what I didn’t want to do is further exacerbate the problems.
“But what I was very, very concerned about is the country was in a serious situation. I didn’t want to exacerbate that situation by making it worse… In retrospect, yes, I probably should have spoken directly to the governor of the Bank of England at the time.”
Truss, who is promoting her new book ‘Ten Years to Save the West’, confirmed she has never met Bailey in person, only by Zoom, and would be happy to meet him at some point.
She also insisted she does not want to be Prime Minister again, despite saying a week ago that she had “unfinished business” with the Conservative Party.
Britain’s shortest-serving Prime Minister had previously declined to rule out standing to be Tory leader, saying it was “never wise to rule anything out in politics”.
But in her interview with Sky News On Sunday, Truss appeared to do just that, saying her new book was “not trying to reinstate myself as Prime Minister”.
Asked directly whether she would like to return to Downing Street, she said: “No.”
And she again refused to apologise for the economic turbulence following her mini-budget, pointing out that “mortgage rates have gone up across the world”.
Truss added: “I think it’s wrong to suggest that I’m responsible for British people paying higher mortgages. That is something that has happened in every country in the free world.”
Labour have accused Truss of engaging in a “twisted victory lap”, holding her responsible for rising mortgage rates and home repossession claims since her brief stint in Downing Street.