Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss. Photo: Google
By SILVIO CANTO, JR.
The year 2022 has witnessed a little history back in the Old Country. The entire world saw Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on tv and iPhones, and now, we will see yet another UK first: three difference prime ministers in the span of just one year.
Prime Minister Liz Truss is now former Prime Minister Truss. And for a time, it looked like former PM Boris Johnson could soon have been PM Boris Johnson, again. (On Sunday, Oct. 23, he said that he was dropping out of the race.)
Johnson’s withdrawal laid the way for Rishi Sunak, Britain’s former finance minister, to come to bat. Other than him, the pickings were pretty slim.
As Roger Miller sang years ago: “England swings like a pendulum do/Bobbies on bicycles, two by two/Westminster Abbey, the tower of Big Ben/The rosy-red cheeks of the little children…”
Truss turned out to be a huge disappointment for those of us who hoped for a new version of the late Margaret Thatcher. All that talk about diversity in UK’s leadership plus a pound sterling won’t heat your “flat” this winter.
“In her brief tenure, Truss proved that she lacked the skills to lead. Her judgments and her tone were almost always wrong,” the British daily wrote.
“Elected by party members without the backing of Tory MPs, she took her victory as a partisan mandate. She exiled the majority of MPs, more of whom had supported Rishi Sunak than her, from her government before being forced to bring some of them back too late. In a Downing Street where neoliberal ideologues and thinktanks were given free rein, she slashed taxes for the rich – a shocking move that proved a deserved economic and political disaster. A run on the pound, a lurch in the bond market and an emergency intervention by the Bank of England followed. Confidence in Conservative economic management collapsed and the opinion polls tanked.”
The fact is that Truss did not fail because of her economic proposal. In this, I disagree with The Guardian. She failed because she did not fight for it and started to go “wobbly” as Thatcher once allegedly said.
In politics, you can’t make proposals and then start walking back those proposals. It shows weakness and you will end up making a resignation speech, as Truss did.
In all fairness, the UK is facing some tough challenges. However, strong leadership can lead the way, as the late Winston Churchill showed in the 1940s or President Donald Trump demonstrated when he stood by Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Those who compromise themselves to appease popular pressures only end up as has-beens.
By SILVIO CANTO, JR.
The year 2022 has witnessed a little history back in the Old Country. The entire world saw Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral on tv and iPhones, and now, we will see yet another UK first: three difference prime ministers in the span of just one year.
Prime Minister Liz Truss is now former Prime Minister Truss. And for a time, it looked like former PM Boris Johnson could soon have been PM Boris Johnson, again. (On Sunday, Oct. 23, he said that he was dropping out of the race.)
Johnson’s withdrawal laid the way for Rishi Sunak, Britain’s former finance minister, to come to bat. Other than him, the pickings were pretty slim.
As Roger Miller sang years ago: “England swings like a pendulum do/Bobbies on bicycles, two by two/Westminster Abbey, the tower of Big Ben/The rosy-red cheeks of the little children…”
Truss turned out to be a huge disappointment for those of us who hoped for a new version of the late Margaret Thatcher. All that talk about diversity in UK’s leadership plus a pound sterling won’t heat your “flat” this winter.
In the end, The Guardian had a point. She simply was not up to the job.
“In her brief tenure, Truss proved that she lacked the skills to lead. Her judgments and her tone were almost always wrong,” the British daily wrote.
“Elected by party members without the backing of Tory MPs, she took her victory as a partisan mandate. She exiled the majority of MPs, more of whom had supported Rishi Sunak than her, from her government before being forced to bring some of them back too late. In a Downing Street where neoliberal ideologues and thinktanks were given free rein, she slashed taxes for the rich – a shocking move that proved a deserved economic and political disaster. A run on the pound, a lurch in the bond market and an emergency intervention by the Bank of England followed. Confidence in Conservative economic management collapsed and the opinion polls tanked.”
The fact is that Truss did not fail because of her economic proposal. In this, I disagree with The Guardian. She failed because she did not fight for it and started to go “wobbly” as Thatcher once allegedly said.
In politics, you can’t make proposals and then start walking back those proposals. It shows weakness and you will end up making a resignation speech, as Truss did.
In all fairness, the UK is facing some tough challenges. However, strong leadership can lead the way, as the late Winston Churchill showed in the 1940s or President Donald Trump demonstrated when he stood by Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Those who compromise themselves to appease popular pressures only end up as has-beens.