Liz Truss’s last speech as Prime Minister: 25 October 2022

It is a great honor for me to be the Prime Minister of this great country.

In particular, to lead the nation in mourning the death of Her late Majesty the Queen after 70 years of service,

and welcoming the accession of His Majesty King Charles III.

In just a short period of time, this government has acted urgently and decisively for the benefit of hard-working families and businesses.

We canceled the increase in national insurance.

We’ve helped millions of households pay their electricity bills and helped thousands of businesses avoid bankruptcy.

We are returning energy independence…

…so that we will never again be dependent on the fluctuations of the global market or malicious foreign powers.

Since I have been Prime Minister, I am more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and face the challenges we face.

As the Roman philosopher Seneca wrote: “We do not dare because everything is difficult. It’s because we don’t dare that they’re complicated.”

We simply cannot afford to be a low-growth country where the government takes an ever-increasing share of our national wealth….

and where there are huge divisions between different parts of our country.

We need to use our Brexit freedoms to do things differently.

This means ensuring greater freedom for our citizens and restoring power to democratic institutions.

This means lower taxes, so people keep more of the money they earn.

This means ensuring growth that leads to greater job security, higher wages and greater opportunities for our children and grandchildren.

Democracies must be able to provide for their own people…

We must be able to defeat autocratic regimes where power is in the hands of the few.

And now more than ever we must support Ukraine in its courageous fight against Putin’s aggression.

Ukraine must win.

And we must continue to strengthen the defense of our country.

This is what I have been trying to achieve…and I wish Rishi Sunak all the best for our country.

I want to thank Hugh, Frances, Liberty, my family and friends and the whole No10 team for their love, friendship and support.

I also want to thank my security team.

I look forward to spending more time in my constituency and continuing to serve South West Norfolk from the back seat.

Our country continues to fight through the storm.

But I believe in Britain.

I believe in the British people.

And I know that bright days are ahead.