Truss could yet return to her roots as a Remainer
LIZ Truss will not have long to enjoy the back-slapping and congratulations of her supporters – and nor should she expect such luxury – before she is expected to get stuck in to her new job.
Understandably, there are severe reservations on this side of the Irish Sea about her motivations and her intentions, especially regarding Brexit and the resulting mess it created, both here, in Britain and throughout Europe.
Frankly, the fantasy that was sold to the turkeys who voted for that particular Christmas didn’t take long to be shattered, though Ms Truss and her ilk appear determined to keep selling it.
And if those comments she is reported to have made about ‘Irish farmers with turnips in the back of their trucks’ are true, then we can hardly say with any confidence that Ms Truss will turn out to be a friend of this country.
However, given she argued for Britain to stay in the EU prior to the Brexit referendum, perhaps her strongly held convictions are a tad more malleable than they might appear.
And if we and the EU remain firm in accepting no less than what is right for our people and our future, we might see that she decides that another Truss volteface turns out to be her most politically expedient approach.
CIARÁN DOWLING, Cork.
...REGARDLESS of who won between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, there has been a lot of big talk by both that will absolutely not be backed up with action over the coming months and years.
Of course, politics was always this way but for an individual to start off their term in office with promises that are almost impossible to keep is not a good omen.
Conservative Party voters and the wider British public have just been subjected to a round of auction politics of a ridiculous level, as each candidate attempted to out-promise their rival.
I like to think of myself as a reasonably optimistic person, and perhaps Ms Truss will turn out to be the British leader she has painted herself as, but I won’t be holding my breath.
Let’s just hope things don’t get too messy for the rest of us.
JEAN THOMPSON, Dublin 14.
Sturgeon’s spot on
I HAVE to agree with Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s assessment of Liz Truss, when she asserts that if Truss governs in the way she campaigned, it will be disastrous for the UK.
I have to admire Sturgeon’s optimism when she hopes for a constructive relationship with Truss.
Both ladies, having traded barbs throughout the Conservative leadership contest and one senses that this relationship is going to be fraught with great difficulty.
My sense of Truss is that she is a capricious politician who will metaphorically ‘run with the hare and hunt with the hounds’.
I don’t get that sense that she is a bright and clever politician.
She strikes me as a marionette of the ultra right wing Tory theologians, the European Research Group (ERG).
It’s my contention that for someone to be an effective leader, one has to be their own person.
When a leader is in thrall and perceived to be a slave to a propaganda machine akin to the ERG, one fears that Truss’s reign will be short-lived.
One would also be concerned that if her reign is buttressed and underpinned by the ERG, such a destructive decision could very well be the catalyst for the Union’s fragmentation.
JOHN O’BRIEN, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary.
Not fit to govern
I AM astonished at the way the people of this country keep on voting for the same shower time after time. We have a Dáil full of landlords raking it in at the expense of the downtrodden and lining their pockets with huge salaries and those of their friends, not to mention their advisers.
They cannot give the pensioners a decent rise so they can pay their way, however they can pay themselves €6,500 as well as hefty increases for senior civil servants. Of course they told us there was €6.5billion in the kitty to help alleviate the costs on the public. Of course that is OK for the TDs and the rest they are getting their raises regardless.
Meanwhile, our energy requirements are ignored with lots of lies bandied about by the overpaid CEOs.
Our TDs aren’t up to the job when it comes to looking after our country. They are too busy looking after themselves. Leo, Micheál and, of course, the bould Eamon should be run out of it immediately before they totally destroy Ireland and also drive our young people out who are looking for affordable accommodation.
Please think before you vote next time. I know I will.
S. O’ROURKE, Galway.
Going green
I AM doing my best to save the planet. I’ve fitted a solar panel to my safety helmet, attached a heat pump to my bike and insulated the handlebars to keep my hands warm this winter.
I’ve given up eating Brussels sprouts and curries to reduce my C02 emissions. I will recycle my hot breath instead of putting on the central heating and I’ve painted everything green!
PIERS MINALL, via email.