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Liz Truss’s very own ‘my dog ate my homework’ speech
At the start of the week we were haunted by a ghost of Downing Street past in the shape of the UK’s shortest-serving prime minister Liz Truss.
After going into hiding following her 49 days in office, she re-emerged with a pathetic attempt to make amends for her disastrous tenure. In a 4000-word column for the Telegraph, she claimed she was never given a “realistic chance” to implement her radical tax-cutting agenda by her party and blamed her downfall on a “left-wing economic establishment”.
It does not bear thinking about what would’ve happened had she been given more time, being as she managed to crash the economy faster than you can say Kwasi Kwarteng (see what I did there?). Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that, given she said in an interview with The Spectator the next day that she would never want to be prime minister again.
Rishi Sunak shakes up Whitehall and brings in 30p Lee
Onto our current prime minister Rishi Sunak who bizarrely decided it was a top priority this week to take a carving knife to Whitehall and create four new departments. Experts say the bill for this could reach more than £100million. Just a wee bit of change then.
The move included bringing in Lucy Frazer as Culture Secretary. Remember her? She once joked about Scots being sent as “slaves to the colonies”. What a laugh!
Not only that, Lee Anderson - who earned the nickname "30p Lee" after questioning if there was a need for food banks as people can eat on that daily sum – has been named as deputy chair of his party. I don’t even think you can buy a Freddo for 30p anymore, Lee, never mind a meal.
Oh, and Anderson has backed bringing back the death penalty for good measure because “nobody has ever committed a crime after being executed". You get the sense this lad and the bigger picture don't really see eye-to-eye. There will be more clangers to come from this appointment, we can be ding-dang sure of that.
Who cares about Holyrood?
Clearly Tory ministers do not. Jeremy Hunt joined a long line of chancellors before him after rejecting an invite to the Scottish Parliament’s finance committee.
Convener Kenneth Gibson has now written a stern second letter to Hunt to see if he’ll snap up a second request to attend. We’re not holding our breath, given Alister Jack and Kemi Badenoch have already snubbed committee invites in recent weeks. Charming.
Medals for ex-MPs and champagne for Lords
In a desperate attempt to make being an MP seem more appealing, a committee of them have suggested that those who lose their seat or give it up should get a medal, certificates for core skills gained during their time in office and 18 months of job advice and support so they do not fall off a “career cliff”.
The £86,584 salary didn’t really appeal to me (yup, they’ve had a pay rise) but a MEDAL?! My ears have pricked up now!
And as for our unelected Lords, they’ve been guzzling more than 300 bottles of bubbly and wine over the last six months while struggling families have been battling to keep warm and put food on the table. Makes you sick eh? Time to do away with this lot.
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