Mistrust in Ms Truss

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Almost 60 years ago, then British Prime Minister Harold Wilson said: ”A week is a long time in politics.” Those words are certainly ringing in the ears of the current British PM Liz Truss. With parliament suspended during the mourning period, very little attention was focused on 10 Downing Street. When the spotlight came back on that famous London address, Ms Truss and her Chancellor of the Exchequer – the olde English name for Finance Minister – came up with a devilish plan to put the flagging British economy and its cost-of-living crisis on a firm footing.

Their shambolic strategy of unfunded tax cuts, benefiting only the very top wage earners, supposedly to encourage a ‘trickle down economy’, has instead thrown the country into chaos. The Bank of England, the International Monetary Fund, every reputable financial expert, everyone who ever owned a piggy bank as a child, and several MPs of Ms Truss’ own Conservative Party have lost confidence and called the move ludicrous, catastrophic and doomed to certain failure.

After only three weeks at the helm there are calls for Ms Truss to do the honourable thing and resign just as Boris Johnson –lovingly referred to as ‘BoJo the Bozo’ – was forced to do following several instances of being caught lying through his teeth.

There are even calls for an immediate general election, but with the opposition Labour Party holding a lead of over 30 per cent in some polls, that would be a last resort for Ms Truss. The Labour Party, led by Sir Keir Starmer, is now being favoured by parliamentary pundits proclaiming him as a responsible and reliable centre-left candidate for PM, with very similar political philosophies to Tony Blair.

Recent British history seems to be turned on its head with Tony Blair only being remembered as the bright, energetic, young man who took over as British PM just weeks before the tragic accidental death of Princess Diana in 1997, and who guided the Queen through an uncertain time. Seemingly forgotten is how he became hugely unpopular, and characterised as the poodle of then US President George W. Bush – even sometimes referred to as Bush’s bitch – for shameless deceptions, such as the Downing Street dossier, etc, surrounding the 2003 attack on Iraq.

The British populace turned against him in no uncertain way. Sir Keir had better remember that, if he’s planning to play the ‘Blair card’ in a future election campaign against a government which seems separated from reality, and preparing to reap the whirlwind.

From my colonial outpost, it often sounds as if the age-old words of Rule Britannia, learned as a boy are changed to ‘Fool Britannia’; and although a week is a long time in politics, right now there seems to be very justifiable mistrust in Ms Truss.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada