Installed in Downing Street without a national mandate by a tiny Conservative sect, Liz Truss posturing as a Boris Johnson continuity Prime Minister without the jokes is dispiriting.
The country faces enormous challenges, chief among them those scorching energy bills in a seismic cost of living crisis, so barely touching the subject in a lacklustre speech to the Tory faithful was ominous.
Where are our votes in a general election when she was put into No10 by only 0.12% of the population who are in the Conservative Party and backed her?
Most Tory MPs withheld endorsement and the 47% she got in the ballot of card-carrying Tories is below the 50% strike threshold that Truss threatens to impose on trade unions.
Delaying a general election until 2024 is undemocratic and damaging, when a public vote would focus attention on what the country wants rather than a small number of Conservative members.
We want to see the colour of Truss’s money on energy bills but we need a fresh start, not another Conservative imposing unfair policies, particularly with big tax cuts for highest earners, and ruining key services.
Royal rumble
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are free to come and go from Britain but what a shame that Harry does not see his family.
Rifts with his brother, father and grandmother will pull at the heartstrings of families across the UK who watched him grow up and sympathise with the agony endured after his mother Diana died 25 years ago.
Decent people everywhere will hope a family at war is reunited peacefully before more bad blood threatens to divide it permanently.
Our class acts
Children starting a new school year is a momentous time for pupils and parents.
Fitting kids into uniforms and getting them to remember pens and books is a familiar task and source of pride that lasts a lifetime
