TOGETHER WE CAN RIDE OUT THE STORM
How the Left-wing Twitterati crowed as the heavens opened just before Liz Truss arrived in Downing Street for her big speech. Then, in a moment loaded with cheering symbolism, the skies cleared – and our new PM declared...
AS new Prime Minister Liz Truss swept towards No 10 in her motorcade, primed and ready to make the most important speech of her life, the weather took a turn for the worse.
Oh dear, oh no, not now!
Inky storm clouds gathered, the heavens duly opened and a late summer rainstorm threatened to wreck her big moment on the pavement outside Downing Street.
The omens of this biblical deluge weren’t lost on anyone. There was gloating on social media, much titteration amongst the Twitterati and excited acknowledgement of the looming calamity over on the BBC’s live coverage. ‘Boris took over on
one of the warmest days [in summer 2019]. Liz will be worried about the political metaphors,’ said political correspondent Nick Eardley, nodding grimly.
But as the doomsters were going full-pelt gloomsters, a kind of miracle happened. Just as suddenly as it began, the rain stopped. A few watery rays of sunshine even managed to poke through the London murk as the PM’s car purred to a halt outside Downing Street.
Somehow, the gods were on her side and Liz Truss made her speech at the podium just as she had planned and tradition demanded. She strode down the wet street with a tangible air of purpose, delivered a short no-frills speech and even managed to throw in a reference to the soggy climate at the climax.
‘I am confident that together we can ride out the storm,’ she said, before waving to the crowds and disappearing inside to begin her new life as PM. She had snatched a great victory from the jaws of defeat, and she didn’t even get her hair wet. Very impressive.
Not everyone agreed. ‘Very Plain Jane,’ was the gruff verdict of Adam Boulton on Sky. He went on to say that her ‘aspiration nation’ line was the ‘lamest bit’ of a lame speech and sighed that it was nothing new.
‘Padding we had heard so many times before,’ he harrumphed, and no matter how much you beg, I am not making any jokes about Adam and padding, so don’t even ask.
The Sky anchor also had harsh words about Truss’s pledge to help people get doctors’ appointments. ‘Frankly doesn’t sound like a particularly inspiring aspiration for an incoming Prime Minister,’ he said, spoken like a man who clearly hasn’t recently tried to get a doctor’s appointment. That’s the thing. After the florid dramas of recent political times, what people want right now is a Liz Truss; a rock-solid Plain Jane who can get us in to see a doctor sometime before next Christmas and maybe do something about the economy at the same time.
The problems this country faces are enormous, but yesterday Truss promised she would ‘take action this day and every day’ to solve them, while urging us all ‘not to be daunted’ by the difficult times ahead. Was it foolhardy to believe her? To look upon her sensible navy dress, fresh blonde highlights and total lack of pizzazz and see a woman who might, just might, lead us out from the darkness into the light? She talked of the strength, energy, determination and talent of the British people and her message of national exceptionalism was as unfashionable as it was comforting. We’ve all got to get out of this mess together, after all.
Yes, there is no doubt that she is an awkward public performer. She often talks through the side of her mouth, like Popeye. For once, she managed to keep her rogue left arm under control, which she usually waves around as if she is spinning wool or directing traffic. Her diction. Is Weird. Why does she Pause. Sometimes in the Middle. Of. Each Sentence. When you Least. Expect It?
Yet her lack of polish gives her authenticity. Perhaps we shall just have to get used to her odd, Trussian ways. While Boris Johnson was an exuberance of emotion, with Truss there is never a hint of pressure building or emotions overwhelming or even a rowdy appetite that might trip her up further down the line.
She may be slightly robotic, but as the latest variation on the theme of a Conservative prime minister, perhaps she is just the stilted tune the country needs to hear right now.
Her detractors point to the fact that she has changed her mind about a lot of things, including the
She even managed to control her rogue left arm
monarchy, which she once wanted to abolish.
Now here she is, having tea with the Queen in Balmoral and forming a government in her name. But isn’t that part of the process of maturing, politically and emotionally?
Spare us all from zealots like Jeremy Corbyn or even Adam Boulton, men who have scarcely changed the way they think since they were spotty teenagers.
In comparison, Liz Truss has come in out of the rain. She has taken a long waltz through politics and ideologies to get to this point, and surely that is to her credit.
And yesterday proved that she is also the kind of woman who knows that fortune – and the sunshine – always favour the bold.
After recent dramas, what we want now is a rock-solid Plain Jane