Liz Truss admits her Budget gives ‘disproportionate’ gains to rich, but insists it is ‘right plan’

PM forced to deny she has inflicted ‘Robin Hood in reverse’ policy on country

Prime minister Liz Truss has admitted her mini-Budget package gives “disproportionate” gains to the richest in society, but insisted it was “the right plan” to deliver economic growth.

The PM broke cover after five days of silence since the launch of chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s “growth plan”, which triggered turmoil in the financial markets and a slump in the value of the pound and prompted the unprecedented spectacle of the International Monetary Fund urging the government of a major economy to “re-evaluate” its plans and the Bank of England intervening to prevent the collapse of major pension funds.

In a series of interviews with BBC local radio stations ahead of Sunday’s Conservative Party conference, the prime minister dismissed calls to calm the situation by reversing some of Mr Kwarteng’s measures or raising funds from a windfall tax on energy companies.