Rishi Sunak has poked fun at Liz Truss over her claim that she was brought down as prime minister by the “deep state”.
The prime minister refused to be drawn on his predecessor’s remarks, which drew widespread ridicule.
Speaking in February, Truss - who only lasted 49 days as PM - said: “In too much of the free world, the left has been in charge for too long and the results are all too plain to see.
“Their agents are only too active in public and private institutions and what we have come to know as the administrative state and the deep state.
“I saw this for myself first hand as they sabotaged my efforts in Britain to cut taxes, reduce the size of government and restore democratic accountability.”
Appearing in front of the House of Commons liaison committee - which is made up of senior MPs - this afternoon, Sunak refused to be drawn on Truss’s comments.
Tory MP William Wragg asked him: ”[Liz Truss] says she was undermined by the deep state.”
Sunak interrupted to say: “I think that’s probably a question for her rather than me.”
Wragg replied: “I was keep to hear your view, prime minister. Is there a deep state? Are you part of it? Am I a part of it?”
The PM said: “It’s probably a question for her. I probably wouldn’t tell you if I was.”
Laughing, he added: “We probably wouldn’t tell anyone else, would we?”
Truss made her remarks in an article for Fox News during a recent visit to America, during which she also accused the Financial Times of being part of a global conspiracy against her.
Truss famously beat Sunak in the bruising Tory leadership contest in the summer of 2022.
But he had the last laugh when he replaced her later that year after she resigned from the job in the wake of the economic chaos caused by her mini-Budget.