'More graft' | Liz Truss is wrong - UK workers aren't lazy, they're just exhausted

Prime Ministerial hopeful Liz Truss is under fire over leaked comments made about UK workers, who she once claimed needed “more graft” and lacked the “skill and application” of overseas employees.

In leaked recordings obtained by The Guardian, Truss, who is vying with Rishi Sunak to become the next Tory leader (and therefore the next PM), also said those outside London were less likely to be hard workers.

The exact date of the comments is unconfirmed, but The Guardian claims they were made at some time during her tenure as Chief Secretary to the Treasure, a position she held until 2019.

Addressing a book she co-authored in 2012 called Britannia Unchained, in which Brit workers were described as some of the “worst idlers in the world”, Truss is reported to have said: “I once wrote a book about this which got mischaracterised – British workers produce less per hour... and that’s a combination of kind of skill and application.