Liz Truss brushes off concerns about £8.8bn black hole in her budget

Abandoned policy misinterpreted ... by the media', Tory leadership frontrunner tells party members at hustings in Cardiff

Liz Truss has said an 8.8bn black hole in her savings budget caused by her abandoning a policy to cut public sector wages was not part of her central costings" for funding a range of spending pledges, as she suggested the policy had been a mistake".

She also defended her stance on Brexit as a former remain supporter, claiming that the disruption she was concerned about prior to the referendum did not happen, despite the long queues recently seen at Channel crossings at the start of the school holidays.