Conservative leadership hopeful Liz Truss said on Wednesday that she was "on the side of people who work hard" after a leaked recording caught her doubting the diligence of British workers.
During a campaign stop in Northern Ireland, where she and rival candidate Rishi Sunak sparred in the eighth of 12 Tory hustings, Ms Truss was challenged about her earlier statement that there was a "fundamental issue with British working culture... what needs to happen is, you know, a bit more graft".
The comments, revealed by the Guardian and dating from Ms Truss's time at the Treasury between 2017 and 2019, were described as a "total disgrace" by the opposition and jolted her campaign as the race to be Britain's next prime minister nears its final stages.
Ms Truss, now the foreign secretary, responded by saying in Northern Ireland that Britain needed more investment and skills and to "help more people get into work... we have a number of people across the country who are currently economically inactive".
"I’m fundamentally on the side of people who work hard, who do the right thing," she said.
During the hustings, Ms Truss said she was determined to steer the Northern Ireland Protocol bill through Parliament, despite stiff opposition to a move that would unilaterally discard part of the Brexit deal with the European Union.
Mr Sunak said there was not much between the candidates on that point, but said he would negotiate with the EU, France and the Republic of Ireland to seek a swifter resolution if possible because the bill "will take time to pass".
The EU accuses Britain of breaching international law by going back on its commitments under the protocol, designed to keep goods moving across the Irish border and avoid inflaming sectarian tensions by bringing in new checks.
The leaked recording comes as Ms Truss emphatically leads rival Rishi Sunak in polls for the race to become prime minister when Boris Johnson stands down early next month.
Ms Truss said in the recording that workers' "mindset and attitude" were partly to blame for the UK's relatively poor productivity.
The two-minute audio clip dates from her time as a senior minister in the finance ministry between 2017 and 2019.
"It's working culture basically," Ms Truss said in the recording obtained by The Guardian newspaper, adding British workers needed "more graft".
"If you go to China it's quite different, I can assure you," she said. "There's a fundamental issue of British working culture … I don't think people are that keen to change."
She also raised regional hackles by saying that productivity was "very, very different in London from the rest of the country".
"It's a total disgrace, what Liz Truss has said. I think it reveals what she really thinks," said Yvette Cooper, a senior MP in the opposition Labour Party.
"She has absolutely no idea that people are working incredibly hard... who are facing these nightmare inflation figures, these soaring energy bills and doing their best to keep everything together."
A Truss ally, former chancellor Sajid Javid, said British workers were "among the hardest-working in the world" but said Ms Truss was right to flag up low productivity.
Asked about the regional disparity, he told Sky News: "I think what she's talking about is business and investment... if we don't increase our growth rate, we won't be able to pay for those investments."
The party's up to 200,000-strong membership has already starting voting for their next leader, who then becomes prime minister.
The result of the summer-long contest will be announced on September 5, with the new leader set to take charge the following day.
The two leadership contenders, who have waged a bitter battle over recent weeks featuring hostile briefings and counter-briefings by their camps, headed across the Irish Sea after a campaign stop in Scotland on Tuesday evening.
UK Conservatives on the leadership campaign trail — in pictures
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Candidates Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss at the Conservative Party leadership election hustings at Wembley Arena, London. This was the final hustings attended by Tory Party members who will vote for the new leader and next prime minister. EPA -
Liz Truss addresses Conservative Party members at Wembley Arena. AP -
Mr Sunak puts forward his case to be leader while speaking at Wembley Arena. Bloomberg -
Mr Sunak visits his family's old business, Bassett Pharmacy in Southampton, while on the campaign trail. Reuters -
Ms Truss speaks to staff at Condimentum Ltd at the Food Enterprise Park in Norwich. Getty Images -
A Rishi Sunak supporter at a hustings event in Norfolk. PA -
Mr Sunak greets people at a leadership hustings in Manchester. Bloomberg -
Ms Truss poses for a selfie with a supporter as she arrives for the event in Manchester. Getty -
Rishi Sunak looks through the sights of an anti-tank missile launcher, supplied to Ukraine, during a visit to the Thales Defence System plant in Belfast, Northern Ireland. AP -
Liz Truss at a Conservative Party leadership campaign event in Belfast. Getty -
Liz Truss meets supporters before a hustings in Perth, Scotland. Getty -
Rishi Sunak speaks during a campaign visit to Cluny Castle in Inverurie, Scotland. Getty -
Police hold back protesters outside Perth Concert Hall, Scotland, where Conservative leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak were speaking. PA -
A mural showing the two leadership contestants appears on a wall in Belfast, Northern Ireland. AP -
Rishi Sunak during a visit to St John's Wood Synagogue, north London. PA -
Liz Truss at the Conservative Party leadership election hustings in Cheltenham. EPA -
Rishi Sunak during a hustings event in Cheltenham. Reuters -
Liz Truss speaks to scientists during a campaign visit to a life sciences laboratory at Alderley Park in Manchester. PA -
Rishi Sunak during a campaign hustings in Darlington, England. Bloomberg -
Liz Truss meets party members before she speaks at the Darlington campaign hustings. Getty -
Rishi Sunak arrives for the Darlington hustings. Getty -
Liz Truss plays pool during a visit to the Onside Future Youth Zone in London. Reuters -
Rishi Sunak looks at a book with Teddy Openshaw, 4, as his father, Henry, looks on after a Conservative leadership campaign event in Ribble Valley, Lancashire, England. Getty -
Liz Truss plays table tennis with former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith during a visit to the Onside Future Youth Zone in London. Reuters -
Liz Truss with supporters at a campaign event in Solihull, England. Reuters -
Rishi Sunak attends a campaign event held by his party in Bexhill, England. Reuters -
A protester is removed as Ms Truss speaks during the Conservative Party leadership hustings in Eastbourne. Bloomberg -
Mr Sunak speaks at an event in Edinburgh. PA -
Ms Truss leaves the hall in Exeter, south-west England, after her speech to a Conservative Party membership hustings. Getty -
Mr Sunak speaks at the University of Exeter in south-west England. AP -
A supporter of Ms Truss at a Conservative Party hustings in Exeter, south-west England. Getty -
Ms Truss at a hustings event at the Pavilion conference centre at Elland Road in Leeds. PA -
Mr Sunak in Salisbury watching a screening of the Uefa Women's Euro 2022 final between England and Germany at Wembley stadium. England won 2-1 in extra time. PA -
Ms Truss before the Uefa Women's Euro 2022 final at Wembley stadium in London. AFP -
Mr Sunak meets Tory members at Fontwell Park Racecourse. Reuters -
Ms Truss at an event in Dereham, Norfolk. AFP -
Mr Sunak in Ropley, near Winchester, Hampshire. PA -
Ms Truss speaks as Conservative Member of Parliament Tom Tugendhat looks on at a Conservative Party leadership campaign event at Biggin Hill Airport. Getty -
Ms Truss on the campaign trail in Woodford Green, on the outskirts of London. Reuters -
Mr Sunak at a Conservative Party hustings event in Leeds. AFP -
Ms Truss speaks at the hustings event in Leeds. AFP -
Sunak and Truss-themed souvenirs at a stand during the Leeds hustings event. Reuters -
Ms Truss, and her mother, Patricia, arrive for the hustings event. Getty -
Ms Truss poses with supporters in Morley, England. Getty -
Mr Sunak delivers a speech during a campaign event in Newmarket. AFP -
Ms Truss and Jake Berry, MP for Rossendale and Darwen, during a visit to a broadband interchange company in Leeds. PA -
Mr Sunak answers questions as he takes part in the hustings in Leeds. AFP -
Ms Truss speaks at an event at a private house with members of the Conservative Party in Woodford Green. PA -
Ms Truss and Mr Sunak pose for a picture before a BBC leadership debate at Victoria Hall in Hanley. Getty -
Ms Truss addresses Mr Sunak during the televised debate. Getty -
Mr Sunak, with daughters Krishna and Anushka, and wife Akshata Murthy, during a visit to Vaculug tyre specialists at Gonerby Hill Foot, Grantham. PA -
Ms Truss speaks to people while campaigning in Marden. Getty -
Ms Truss celebrates after being named, along with Mr Sunak, one of the final two candidates in the race to become the UK's next prime minister. PA -
Mr Sunak outside his campaign office in central London. EPA -
Ms Truss outside Downing Street in London. Reuters -
Rishi Sunak meets Conservative Party members and activists, in Teesport, Redcar. Reuters -
Conservative leadership candidates Mr Sunak, Ms Truss, Kemi Badenoch, presenter Julie Etchingham, Tom Tugendhat and Penny Mordaunt during 'Britain's Next Prime Minister: The ITV Debate' in London. EPA -
Ms Badenoch arrives at Here East studios in Stratford, east London, before a live television debate. PA -
Mr Sunak arrives at a London event to launch his campaign to be the next Conservative Party leader and UK prime minister. Reuters -
Mr Tugendhat appears on the BBC One current affairs programme, 'Sunday Morning'. PA -
Ms Badenoch, Ms Mordaunt, Mr Sunak, Ms Truss and Mr Tugendhat before the live television debate. PA -
Ms Mordaunt arrives for the launch of her Conservative leadership campaign at the Cinnamon Club in Westminster. PA -
Ms Truss speaks at the launch event for her campaign to become the next leader of the Tory Party and Britain's prime minister, in London. EPA -
Chancellor of the Exchequer Nadhim Zahawi, one of the candidates who has been knocked out of the race, giving a speech at the Churchill War Rooms. PA -
Former leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt appearing on the BBC One current affairs programme, 'Sunday Morning'. PA -
Sajid Javid attending the launch of his campaign to be Conservative Party leader and prime minister, at the Cinnamon Club in London. He has since been knocked out of the contest. PA -
Rehman Chishti is interviewed after announcing his bid to become the next prime minister. Mr Chishti is no longer in the race. Getty -
Mr Tugendhat speaking at the launch of his campaign. PA -
Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries and Conservative MP Iain Duncan Smith arrive for the Truss campaign launch event. Getty -
Former leadership candidate Attorney General Suella Braverman at the Churchill War Rooms in central London. PA -
Supporters of Mr Sunak wait for his arrival ahead of the campaign launch. Bloomberg -
Mr Tugendhat makes a speech at the launch of his campaign. PA -
Mr Javid mops his brow while launching his campaign. Getty -
Ms Truss leaves for work after her announcement that she would be running for the leadership of the Conservative Party. Getty
Ms Truss's remarks echo controversial arguments made in a 2012 book she co-wrote, Britannia Unchained, in which British workers were described as among the "worst idlers in the world".
Asked about it at a leadership debate last month, she distanced herself from the contentious assessment, claiming co-writer and Sunak supporter Dominic Raab, who is Justice Minister, had penned it.
Mr Raab has subsequently said the writers of the book, which included several other senior Conservative ministers, had agreed on "collective responsibility" over its contents.
In the audio, Ms Truss — who supported staying in the EU during the divisive 2016 referendum before later becoming a Brexit supporter — also appeared to suggest the bloc and migration were unfairly criticised.
"We say it's all Europe that's causing all these problems. It's all, 'It's migrants that's causing problems'.
"But actually what needs to happen is, you know, a bit more graft," she said with a laugh, before adding: "It's not a popular message".
Everything you need to know about Liz Truss - video
A Truss campaign source branded the leaked comments "half-a-decade-old" and lacking context, while saying that Britain does "need to boost productivity".
"As prime minister, Liz will deliver an economy that is high wage, high growth and low tax," the source said.
