Liz Truss has said she “didn’t understand” the risks to the bond markets and would have delayed her mini-Budget if she had.
In an interview with The Spectator on Monday, Truss also said her decision to axe the 45p rate of tax was perhaps “a bridge too far”.
Truss’ mini-Budget triggered market chaos and the Bank of England was forced to step in to prevent pension funds that had invested in liability-driven investment (LDIs) from collapsing.
“I didn’t know the existence of LDIs,” Truss said. “We would have done things differently if we’d known about this issue.”
She said: “If we’d known that beforehand we certainly would have maybe moved the mini-Budget.
“We didn’t necessarily understand the issue, and that is a difficult position to be in as PM and chancellor.”
Truss suggested the Bank should have “flagged” the problem with LDIs to both her and her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, ahead of time.
Asked during the interview if she would like to be prime minister again, Truss said: “No.”
“I definitely want to carry on as an MP,” she said. “But I’m not desperate to get back into No.10, no.”
Earlier, Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said the prime minister would “listen” to what Truss had to say.
But No.10 said the PM had “set out his priorities” and would be focused on those.
Truss’ interview came after she published a 4,000 word defence of her time in Downing Street in the Sunday Telegraph. Sunak’s spokesperson said they did not know if the current PM had read it.