Liz Truss began her fightback in the Tory leadership contest on Thursday by saying she was ready to “hit the ground running” as Britain’s next prime minister, as the rise of her less seasoned rival Penny Mordaunt threatened to knock her campaign off course.
Allowing herself only the slightest chuckle when asked melodramatically about the “March of Mordaunt”, the foreign secretary told journalists at her first major campaign speech that she would not be drawn into a public slanging match with the candidate who knocked her into third place in the first round of balloting.
But there was little doubt whose CV she was comparing hers with when she said: “I am the person in this race with the record of delivery … my experience, my record of delivery is needed to get the job done.”
Having waited until after round one to throw herself into the campaign, Ms Truss was keen to remind her audience that she had the responsibilities of a foreign secretary during the war in Ukraine.
Ms Mordaunt, a junior minister who was very briefly defence secretary in 2019, has been described as a potential compromise candidate after serving quietly under Boris Johnson without making enemies on the Tory benches.
Ms Truss, meanwhile, has been in cabinet since 2014 and is seen as the main flag-bearer of the right of the party, but only came third behind Ms Mordaunt and former chancellor Rishi Sunak in Tuesday’s first round of voting by Tory MPs.
In her launch speech she was keen to talk about her younger days as well as her cabinet experience, saying her background as a comprehensive school pupil in Leeds set her apart from upper-crust Tories and gave her a desire to create an “aspiration nation” if she wins the race.
She spoke of continuing the “levelling up” agenda of Mr Johnson, whose election victory in 2019 saw sweeping Tory gains in the poorer north of England, although she said this would happen “in a Conservative way”.
Her specific promises included an offer of tax cuts to match those being promised by almost all of the six candidates, and economic reforms to make Britain a “high-growth economy” in the next 10 years.
Money would be raised by trimming the public sector and delaying payments on coronavirus-related debt, Ms Truss said, freeing up cash that could see defence spending rise to 3 per cent of gross domestic product by 2030.
Her economic ideas would include new “low-tax, low-regulation zones” to attract investors, regenerating deprived areas in a manner modelled on the London Docklands, and cutting regulations for farmers, she said.
“We need to be honest with the public. This will be tough. It will take time. But I am determined to deliver,” she said to applause from supportive MPs, who included cabinet ministers Nadine Dorries and Kwasi Kwarteng.
Did the backing of Johnson loyalists constitute a “kiss of death” from the unpopular prime minister, she was asked? Like Mr Sunak before her, Ms Truss sought to create some distance without openly attacking Mr Johnson.
She said she had criticised a rise in National Insurance behind closed doors, although she publicly supported it at the time, and would reverse it if elected prime minister.
If all goes to plan the economy could be on an “upward trajectory” by 2024, she said, without needing to remind the MPs in front of her that the next general election is expected that year.
“The next election will be about the economy, and Liz is ready to deliver radical change from day one,” said Mr Kwarteng, warming up the audience while Ms Truss huddled with aides before her speech.
Not all of her team appeared to have got the message of civility, with Simon Clarke, one of her supporters in the cabinet, endorsing an astonishing attack on Ms Mordaunt by former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost.
“I’m quite surprised that she is where she is in this leadership race,” Lord Frost told Talk TV, before revealing he had asked outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson to drop Ms Mordaunt from his negotiating team last year.
“I felt she did not master the detail that was necessary in the negotiations. She wouldn’t always deliver tough messages to the European Union when that was necessary.
“And I’m afraid she wasn’t fully accountable, she wasn’t always visible, sometimes I didn’t even know where she was. I’m afraid this became such a problem that after six months I had to ask the prime minister to move her on.”
Mr Clarke said Lord Frost’s warning was “a really serious one … [we] need a leader who is tested and ready.”
Ms Truss meanwhile now bills herself as an enthusiast for Brexit, and a hardliner in talks with the EU, despite having opposed Britain’s departure from the bloc in the 2016 referendum campaign.
In foreign policy, she would continue Mr Johnson’s efforts to rally world leaders against Russia and “make sure that Ukraine prevails”, she said.
“I don’t give in to Whitehall. I don’t give in to vested interests. And I don’t give in to the naysayers,” she said, hours before MPs vote for a second time. “I’ve proved time and time again that I can deliver even when it’s difficult.”
Tory leadership candidates — in pictures
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THE SPECS
Engine: 4.4-litre V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 523hp
Torque: 750Nm
Price: Dh469,000
EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEdinburgh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%204%20%3Cem%3E(unchanged)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBahrain%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%2015%20%3Cem%3E(from%20September%2015)%3C%2Fem%3E%3B%20second%20daily%20service%20from%20January%201%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EKuwait%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%2015%20%3Cem%3E(from%20September%2016)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMumbai%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20October%2027)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAhmedabad%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20October%2027)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColombo%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202%20%3Cem%3E(from%20January%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMuscat%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cem%3E%20%3C%2Fem%3EMarch%201%3Cem%3E%20(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELyon%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBologna%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%20Emirates%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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How to donate
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
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'The Batman'
Stars:Robert Pattinson
Director:Matt Reeves
Rating: 5/5
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
Yahya Al Ghassani's bio
Date of birth: April 18, 1998
Playing position: Winger
Clubs: 2015-2017 – Al Ahli Dubai; March-June 2018 – Paris FC; August – Al Wahda
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
The specs: 2018 Range Rover Velar R-Dynamic HSE
Price, base / as tested: Dh263,235 / Dh420,000
Engine: 3.0-litre supercharged V6
Power 375hp @ 6,500rpm
Torque: 450Nm @ 3,500rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 9.4L / 100kms
