Robert Jenrick fired back at the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire after she questioned whether the Tories can be trusted on the economy.
The Cabinet minister insisted the party would make “sensible, prudent decisions” when pressed about tax cuts during an appearance on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
But stand-in host Derbyshire sounded incredulous as she asked if he had “forgotten” about Ms Truss’s premiership, which was marked by chaos over her mini-budget.
Mr Jenrick replied by pointing to the “difference” in the last year under Rishi Sunak.
The exchange kicked off when Derbyshire asked the immigration minister about pressure from within the party to slash taxes.
Mr Jenrick replied: “We all want to cut taxes. Everyone wants lower taxes, as a Conservative it is one of the central tenets of conservatism that we believe in lower taxes.”
Derbyshire interrupted: “You may believe in it but actions speak louder than words and we’ve got the highest tax burden for decades.”
The Cabinet minister went on: “But the first task has got to be bearing down on inflation because it’s ultimately inflation today and in the last couple of years since the pandemic which has been the great evil which has been eroding people’s savings and leading to mortgages rising.”
He said once inflation was under control “we will consider what more we should do”.
He added: “But you can trust the Conservatives to make sensible, prudent decisions on the future of the economy and to bring down taxes where it is capable to do so.”
But Derbyshire asked: “Can we? Have you forgotten Liz Truss a year ago? Have you forgotten Liz Truss a year ago?”
Mr Jenrick said: “Look at the difference that we’ve seen in the last 12 months under Rishi Sunak.
“The fact that we have stabilised the economy, that it’s growing, that inflation is falling and on critical issues like immigration, were making significant progress for the first time in a long time.”
