Liz Truss was 'ecstatic' with mini-budget plan and claims Number 10 infested with fleas in new memoir

Liz Truss has revealed she considered abolishing the UK's economic watchdog and replacing leaders at the Treasury and Bank of England, accusing the bodies of being "pro-China" and "pro-Remain".

The country's shortest serving prime minister said she discussed scrapping the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) with her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng but concluded it would have "amounted to a declaration of war on the economic establishment".

In an extract from her memoir published by the Daily Mail, Ms Truss says the OBR, Treasury, and Bank of England "were more interested in balancing the books than growing the economy" and saw immigration "as a way of fixing the public finances".

Defending her September 2022 mini-budget - which led to a surge in borrowing costs and saw the pound slump to a 37-year low against the dollar - the former prime minister said she would "accept that the communications around the mini-budget were not as good as they could have been".

However, she said the afternoon after which Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng outlined the growth plan was "probably my happiest moment as prime minister" adding "I was ecstatic".

Mr Kwarteng was sacked three weeks later amid rising mortgage costs, before most measures in the statement were axed in an attempt to stabilise financial markets.

The serialisation also includes behind-the-scenes details of domestic life as a senior government figure.

While foreign secretary, Ms Truss says she was forced to share the grace-and-favour Chevening mansion in Kent with her predecessor Dominic Raab and would find "protein shakes labelled 'Raab' in the fridge".

Read more:
Truss 'furious' after MPs accused of blocking reform bill
The investigation into Angela Rayner hinges on one thing

The Norfolk MP is also critical of the levels of personal support offered to UK prime ministers saying "despite now being one of the most photographed people in the country, I had to organise my own hair and make-up appointments".

She described the prime ministerial flat above the Number 10 offices as infested with fleas that some claimed came from her predecessor Boris Johnson's dog Dilyn.

Ms Truss also revealed she and her husband had ordered new furniture for the residence "but were evicted before it could be delivered".

The death of the Queen is also described in the extracts, with Ms Truss saying the fact it happened on her second full day as prime minister left her in a "state of shock" and thinking "Why me? Why now?".