The prime minister was interrupted early on in the speech – while reiterating what the government had done to help people with energy bills – by two Greenpeace activists who unfurled a banner with the words, ‘Who voted for this?’
They were booed by conference delegates, with Truss saying, ‘Let’s get them removed.’
She then joked that they had arrived too early, ‘saying that later on in her speech she would be talking about the anti-growth coalition.'
Later she listed ‘Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, the militant unions, the vested interests dressed up as thinktanks, the talking heads, the Brexit deniers, Extinction Rebellion and some of the people we had in the hall earlier’ as those who she thought were part of an ‘anti-growth coalition’.
Cutting taxes ‘was putting up a sign that Britain was open for business’, she said, while the abolition of the 45p tax rate was ‘a distraction’ from the major parts of the growth plan, which is why she was no longer proceeding with it. ‘I get it and I have listened.’
‘I believe in fiscal responsibility, I believe in sound money and a lean state,’ she said.
She pledged, ‘This government will always be fiscally responsible.'
Truss said that the government would drive economic growth, 'breaking down barriers'.
‘We’ve become averse as a nation to doing things differently,’ she said, saying she loved people who started their own businesses.
On deregulation she said, ‘We will back business to the hilt, cutting taxes and simplifying red tape to help businesses realise their ambitions.’
New investment zones would help 'level up' across the country.
‘Now is the time to harness the power of free enterprise to harness the power of our country and ensure our greatest days lie ahead.'
She said the Conservatives were the party that 'got Brexit done' and that ‘by the end of the year all EU red tape will be consigned to history. Instead we will ensure that regulation is pro-business and pro-growth. Leaving the EU gives us the chance to do things differently. That’s why over the coming weeks my team of ministers will set out more about what we’re going to do to get Britain moving.
‘We’ll make it easier to build homes, to afford childcare, and to get superfast broadband. We’ll help you set up your own business and get a mobile signal wherever you are in the country.
'Economic growth makes things better and easier for everyone and will level up our country. Economic growth will mean that we can afford great public services, such as schools, the police, and the NHS.'
She claimed that the country faced 'tough times' but she was 'working flat out. We have your back.'
Earlier in the speech Truss claimed, ‘I stand here today as the first prime minister of our country to have gone to a comprehensive school.’
Truss attended Roundhay School in Leeds.
However, later commentators said that her claims were incorrect, as both Gordon Brown and Theresa May had also attended selective state secondary schools that turned into comprehensives.
Former Labour prime minister Brown attended Kirkcaldy High School, now a co-educational comprehensive, in Fife.
May attended Holton Park Girls’ grammar school in Oxfordshire, which became the Wheatley Park comprehensive school while she was still a pupil.
Greenpeace protesters interrupted the PM's speech PHOTO YouTube
Commenting after the speech, Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said, 'If the Prime Minister is committed to being pro-business, she needs to make sure that working parents have access to affordable, high quality childcare and early education. This will ensure parents can seek employment or work more hours; it sets children up for lifelong learning and saves the government spending more in their later years.
'However, high quality childcare needs much more investment from the Government, which currently puts in one of the lowest contributions towards childcare costs among OECD countries and much less than comparable countries like France and Germany.'
Referring to the Government's recent consultation on changing staff to child ratios in early years settings, she said, 'Any plans they bring forward must take into account these views of parents, experts and early years providers on the impact this could have on children and providers.'
'Rather than tinkering with ratios, more effective and immediate help would be to grant business rates relief for childcare businesses, look at reducing their VAT burdens and investing in a long-term workforce strategy.'
A petition against changing ratios has been signed by more than 100,000 people and will be considered for a debate in Parliament.
