‘I’m still an I will play
LIZ Truss wants to return to frontline politics to take on the left-wingers she believes are destroying Britain from within.
Her stint in Downing Street lasted 49 days and ended in humiliating fashion after the collapse of her mini-Budget in 2022.
But the former Prime Minister has made it clear that her hunger to bring the change she says is needed in Britain is still there.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Express, Ms Truss joked that the one thing she might change from her past was running for Tory leader after Boris Johnson was ousted.
But she added that the “biggest mistake” was Mr Johnson’s ousting by her fellow Conservative MPs in the first place.
In her new memoir, Ten Years To Save The West, she notes how her husband Hugh had been wary of her entering the leadership contest.
And her agent in her Norfolk South constituency had quipped that she should run but it “might be better to come second.”
Ms Truss said: “This is what my husband said to me – ‘The parliamentary party have shown themselves to be pretty regicidal and it was a mistake getting rid of Boris. If somebody gets elected by the voters as Prime Minister, you could have a pretty damn good reason for doing it and we’re still suffering from that.’”
Asked about her own future, Ms Truss was clear she is up for returning to office but not necessarily as Prime Minister.
“I’m still an MP, I’m still here, I want to be part of this debate. I will play whatever role I am needed to play.” In her book she claims she only wanted the top job in order to bring about the economic changes she believes Britain needs to thrive. “When I ran to be leader, it wasn’t because I had a burning desire to be Prime Minister,” she said.
“It was because what I really care about is getting stuff done, and changing Britain and making Britain the successful, dynamic, patriotic country I know that we are.
“So the reason I’ve written this book is, of course, to be part of the political debate in Britain about where the Conservative Party’s philosophy goes.
“A very clear view of where it should go but also as a warning to other conservatives around the world. This is what’s happened.” In the book, Ms Truss argues that the West “is on the brink of being seriously undermined” from within by leftist, woke ideology embedded in unaccountable institutions. She details how an “establishment that has moved to the left in the last 40 years” is blocking success in Britain.
The book goes through her experiences and battles with the civil service which “recruits left-wing activists”.
And she hits out at the “self-appointing” judiciary, “left-wing media”, the “unaccountable and unsackable economic establishment” – including the Governor of the Bank of England – and the way her own party is dominated by “Conservatives In Name Only (CINOs)”.
She told the Daily Express that she wanted to get the book out this year
The West is run by the global left who aren’t strong enough to stand up for what’s right
in time for the US presidential elections in November because Britain’s problem is “a Western problem”. And, unlike many Conservative MPs, she hopes that Donald Trump wins back the White House.
Ms Truss warns that there is a lot at stake in a world that could be dominated by China within a decade unless the West does not tackle big state, anti-growth and woke ideology – as well as net zero zealots.
She went on: “You can see China’s becoming increasingly belligerent, the terrible strikes Iran attempted to do on Israel, the war in Ukraine – these are a sign ofWestern weakness. I think my book is about the way that the West has undermined itself. Self-defeating net zero targets have meant our economy isn’t growing as much as it could.Woke nonsense has damaged children.
“They’re essentially trying to undermine our way of life and our civilisation. That is what the book is about.
“And it’s about getting our act together.
“The West has been run by the global left – the [US President] Joe Bidens and [Canadian Prime Minister] Justin Trudeaus of this world who are not strong enough to stand up for what is right.”
Ms Truss likened the treatment of Trump by large sections of the media and left-wing activists to the way Harry Potter author JK Rowling has been “turned into a hate figure” for
Arrested
speaking out against trans zealots.
The former PM talked about a culture of fear among people across the country.
She explained how she talks to constituents on their doorsteps who tell her “I probably shouldn’t say this” as if “they might be arrested” for expressing their views.
The former Tory leader added: “I hope Americans do vote for Trump and believe they will because he actually delivers.”