The contemptible Tories aren’t fit to lead this nation. Liz Truss yesterday became the second PM they’ve burned through this year – and their fourth leader since 2016.
But yet again, Scots will watch in horror as they gift themselves the power to choose who gets the keys to No10 next. Ordinary folk want a government focused on the cost of living crisis and the frightening prospect of sky-high mortgage bills.
Instead all they see is Tory MPs obsessed with themselves and looking inwards. Voters must be given their chance in a general election to turf out this appalling, shambolic Government.
Truss, who quit after a chaotic 44 days in power, is a good shout for being the worst leader in the history of the UK. The fact that her ignominious reign was the shortest ever in Downing Street further demonstrated the Tories can’t be trusted to make decisions in the country’s best interests.
Even without winning the gold medal for ineptitude, she has certainly inflicted the most damage in the quickest period of time. The economic carnage of the last few weeks was caused by Truss and her ex-chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng, who was sacked for the disastrous mini-budget they concocted together.
Her legacy, other than being an international laughing stock, is higher interest rates and inflation for the voters she was supposed to help. Her resignation was entirely merited.
But it is also true Truss was never going to succeed in the pressure cooker of Downing Street. She was put in the job, not by the voters, but by rightwing Tory members who only cared about their own selfish priorities.
She was honest during the leadership campaign about some of her tax cuts but withheld the more controversial parts from public consumption. After she won, her Government then tried to railroad an unfunded package of tax cuts that would have made the rich even richer.
Truss never had a mandate for cutting the top rate of income tax and yet she tried to do it. She never had the permission of voters to lift the curbs on bankers’ bonuses but still ploughed ahead.
Her disastrous mini-budget sent the UK economy into a tailspin and fatally damaged the Government’s reputation in the eyes of the world. Even US President Joe Biden had a pop when he rightly claimed that tax cuts for the super wealthy are wrong.
Rising interest rates and high inflation are not solely the fault of Truss, but without her cack-handed policies both would be lower. Her elevation to PM also says a lot about the demented state of the modern Tory party.
The Conservative group at Westminster devoured themselves over the ousting of Boris Johnson and have done it again over Truss. Now, with depressing predictability, Johnson is believed to be keen on a comeback months after leaving office in disgrace.
Johnson is a liar who demeaned the office of Prime Minister. It is the country, not Tory members and MPs, who should pick the next Prime Minister.
We desperately need a general election to give Scots their hope back.
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