Referring to the comments, revealed in a leaked recording, Ms Truss said: “I don’t know what you’re saying there.” However, hours earlier, sources in her campaign team suggested they were genuine, describing them as “half a decade old”. In a leaked recording, first revealed by The Guardian, Ms Truss argued that British officials lacked the “skill and application” of foreign rivals and needed “more bribery”. Her words echo those contained in a book she co-authored a decade ago. This branded British workers among the “worst idlers in the world”. Last month Ms Truss said she had not written that chapter, blaming Dominic Raab, the deputy prime minister. A source from her team sought to brush aside the latest row, telling the newspaper: “These half-decade-old comments have no context, but one thing that is as clear today as ever is the need to increase productivity, leading to higher wages and a better quality of life for workers across the UK. As prime minister, Liz will deliver a high-wage, high-growth, low-tax economy.” Later, when asked about the comments during a hunt in Perth, Ms Truss said: “I don’t know what you’re referring to there.” He went on to say “the point I’ve always made is that we need more productivity in this country.” In the leaked recording, he said: “I once wrote a book about this being misunderstood – British workers produce less per hour than … and that’s a combination of kind of skill and application.” He continued: “If you look at productivity, it’s very, very different in London to the rest of the country. But basically… this has been a historical fact for decades. It’s actually partly a matter of mindset and attitude, I think. It is basically work culture. If you go to China it’s very different, I can assure you.” He added: “There is a fundamental issue with British work culture. Essentially, if we are going to be a richer country and a more prosperous country, that has to change. But I don’t think people want to change that. “There’s a little thing in Britain about wanting easy answers. That’s my reflection on the election and what came before it, and the referendum – we’re saying that it’s all of Europe that’s causing these huge problems… it’s all these immigrants that are causing these problems. But actually what needs to happen is more … more grafting. It’s not a popular message.” During the trials, Mrs Truss came under constant attack from her rival Rishi Sunak, who claimed millions could be driven into poverty by her plans to cut taxes and that the party would never be forgiven by the public. Both ruled out a price freeze on energy bills as proposed by Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer. Ms Truss also backed pensioners getting a potentially double-digit inflation-adjusted income boost, saying she believed in the “triple lock”. He also ruled out a referendum on Scottish independence, saying the 2014 vote was a once-in-a-generation event. Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, said: “With wages shrinking thanks to the Tories’ failure to get inflation under control and years of lackluster growth, it is very insulting for Liz Truss to effectively label lazy British workers. I would have hoped she had moved on from the days of the ‘Britannia Unchained’ fiasco, but that seems to be the plan for her future government. “Workers across the country work around the clock to keep a roof over their heads, put food on the table and provide for their families. Liz Truss should be helping working people deal with this cost of living crisis… not peddling this offensive nonsense.’
