WE have Prime Minister Truss. And we have Chancellor Kwarteng. The two were co-authors of the 2012 book "Britannia Unchained" that set out a frightening vision for a right-wing state. The economic advisers Truss has chosen for her Downing Street team, all recruited from the ranks or alumni of right-wing think tanks like The Taxpayer’s Alliance and the Institute of Economic Affairs, suggest that Truss has not changed her mind on any of the issues she and Kwarteng wrote about in 2012. She has instead been biding her time to deliver on them.

What does this mean, presuming that what former prime minister Harold MacMillan called "events" do not get in her way of delivering on her promises? We got some hint from the speech she made in Downing Street on her return from meeting the Queen at Balmoral.

The road message

The first thing she said was that we need more roads. I suspect I was amongst the 99% of those listening to her who were baffled by this apparent priority in a country where the road system by and large works, in contrast to many other public services that have been underfunded at the choice of the governments she has served in. So what message was she delivering?

Was it that we should understand that the environment is of no concern to her? The appointment of Jacob Rees Mogg later in the day to have Cabinet responsibility for that issue might suggest that to be the case.

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Alternatively, was she saying that public transport does not matter and that, like Thatcher, she thinks that those who use it are losers?

It was not clear what she meant, but I have a feeling that she did not choose to mention roads by accident. Whatever else anyone might think of her, my suspicion is that she’s unlikely to have made a mistake less than a minute into her premiership.

The problem with her three priorities

Let’s presume in that case the message she was delivering was deliberate, and was meant to indicate the way in which she might seek to achieve the other three objectives she laid out - which were help with the energy crisis, delivering economic growth and supplying more NHS appointments.

Significantly, Truss appeared not to notice that the last issue is not within her remit in Scotland, Wakes or Northern Ireland, but I suspect there was another deliberate subliminal message on her ignoring that fact. It’s as if she wants to throw down a gauntlet in whatever she does. On this health-related issue that challenge is to the devolved governments, which she clearly holds in contempt.

READ MORE: Clive Myrie says energy crisis is 'insignificant' compared to Queen's ill health

The other issues also have implicit challenges in them. Truss’s energy pricing plan looks as if it's designed to help the richest households most, followed by energy companies and banks. The offer for those in real need will be continuing energy poverty for many. It is as if she is challenging society to disagree with her plan to make the wealthy wealthier.

Much the same can be said for the plan for growth. What we now know is that this is built around fracking, which no-one wants, and the relaxation of regulations in the City of London, because as anyone who can recall the crash of 2008 knows is that this ended really well last time. And I stress that last comment is true if you were a prospective Tory minister. Rishi Sunak and Sajid Javid made fortunes prior to that crash, as did many other Tories. The rest of us paid the price. The challenge to the rest of us is being laid down, again, in that case.

It's clear who's NOT going to benefit

This is my point: What we already know about Truss from just these announcements is that her policy choices will be guided by the vested interests that support the Conservative Party and not the needs of the people of England, let alone Scotland. About either of those needs she is indifferent.

This is really troubling. Government has to be by consent. It has to be for all people, eventually. And in a time of crisis, which is want we have, it has to address real priorities and not a Prime Minister’s whims. But the Tories have, after four prime ministers and 12 years in office, forgotten that. Instead, they are pandering to the few at deliberate cost to the many.

If the only downside of this deliberate policy of indifference to most people was a political row I might be able to live with this: Such is the lifeblood of politics. But that isn’t true right now. We know people face massive hardship in the year to come, and maybe well beyond, and it’s not at all clear that Truss cares. Worse, she is seeking to stoke differences in society instead.

For how long can this continue before goodwill towards her government breaks down? I do not know. I do, however, think that will happen. We are in for a very rough ride with a government that just does not care about anything that suits anyone but them and their close supporters. Fasten your safety belts.