It is hard to know what Liz Truss hoped to achieve by storming off stage during an event in Suffolk promoting her new memoir. The former PM did so after campaigners unfurled a banner emblazoned with the phrase: ‘I crashed the economy’ below a picture of a lettuce. All that Truss, who lasted just 49 days in office, succeeded in doing was to draw even more attention to the prank – the clip has amassed over six million views on social media. In the process she also managed to confirm what many have long suspected, which is that she really can’t take a joke, however lame.
Truss was sitting comfortably on stage, discussing the US presidential election, expressing her support for Donald Trump before she was pranked. ‘I support Trump and I want him to win,’ she said to applause from the audience. She added: ‘I think it was Bill Clinton’s adviser who said: “It’s the economy stupid”. So I think he [Trump] will, he probably will win. I’ve got a load of Trump questions, by the way.’
We just dropped in on Liz Truss’s pro-Trump speaking tour with a remote-controlled lettuce banner. She didn’t find it funny. ? pic.twitter.com/jtSqaxycfF
— Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) August 13, 2024
Pointing out her record – by telling tired lettuce jokes, among other things – is surely an example of the free expression that Truss claims to care so much for
She stopped speaking when her attention was drawn to the banner behind her. She was then heard to ask ‘what’s that?’, while the host responded: ‘I’ve no idea where that has come from.’ As she left the stage, some members of the audience laughed, while others clapped. Truss was heard complaining ‘that’s not funny’, before ripping off the microphone and walking away. She subsequently explained her actions on X:
‘Far-left activists disrupted the event, which then had to be stopped for security reasons. This is done to intimidate people and suppress free speech. I won’t stand for it.’
This seems rather far-fetched, to put it mildly. It was merely a banner lowered behind her: why not stay on stage and carry on? The only person suppressing free expression here is Truss with her absurd fit of pique. Predictably enough, Led By Donkeys, the campaign group behind the stunt, milked the Truss tantrum for all it was worth, trumpeting on X: ‘We just dropped in on Liz Truss’s pro-Trump speaking tour with a remote-controlled lettuce banner. She didn’t find it funny.’ This crowing is itself almost as pathetic as Truss’s silly over-reaction.
The lettuce image and joke has followed Truss around for some time. It gained traction in the final days of her brief spell in Downing Street, when the Daily Star newspaper launched a live stream of a lettuce to see whether Truss’s fight to stay as prime minister could last longer (for those who don’t know, the item in question was a 60p iceberg lettuce from Tesco). This stunt was in response to her mini-Budget, which included £45 billion of unfunded tax cuts, leading to economic and political turmoil. The former prime minister has previously criticised the lettuce joke, arguing in June: ‘I just think it’s puerile.’ She doth protest a little too much, me thinks. Truss, whether she likes it or not, prompted an economic crisis – her proposed reforms sent the currency tumbling and mortgage rates shot up – before a Conservative rebellion ousted her from office. She might now find it convenient to forget this period but that doesn’t mean others should follow suit. Pointing out her record – by telling tired lettuce jokes, among other things – is surely an example of the free expression that Truss claims to care so much for.
Our former PM, needless to say, sees things rather differently and is keen to look forward rather than back. Truss was in Suffolk trying to promote her memoir Ten Years to Save the West, in which she opines on the challenges facing democracies. It is part and parcel of her attempt to reinvent herself as a serious thinker and global strategist, which has led to her taking a growing interest in US politics. Last month, she had this to say to Republican supporters about her short stint in Number 10: ‘I’ve learned how powerful the unelected bureaucracy is. You have to win in November… you have to dismantle the leftist state… they are devious, they are ruthless and they are out to get you.’ This is more rewriting of history.
The only person out to get Truss was Truss, who managed to self-destruct in office in record time. She really should learn to see the funny side of these tragic events. Plenty of others do.
