LIZ Truss is dividing and fragmenting the Tory party, as previous colleagues and allies now turn on her. She is attempting to force through massive doctrinaire changes for which she and her dogmatic rump of a government have no mandate.
In the recent Conservative Party leadership election only 57% of members voted for Liz Truss to be leader. In previous such elections, Boris Johnson won with 66%, David Cameron 68% and Iain Duncan-Smith 61%. (Theresa May’s opposition withdrew so the contest did not go to the Tory party membership). So Liz Truss has a weaker Tory mandate than Cameron, Johnson or Duncan-Smith.
READ MORE: Liz Truss pledges to 'face down separatists' in Conservative conference speech
Despite that she has chosen to exclude any who supported Rishi Sunak from her government. She has thus made an already restricted Tory government even more narrow, constricted by dogma and fear of opposition. Loyalty to her is her primary criteria in selecting Cabinet members; ability and competence are distant secondary considerations.
Effectively she is now left with a dogmatic rump of Conservative MPs, out of touch with her wider party and the country as a whole. She is adopting extreme right-wing economic policies, unconnected to political reality or even the real world. In the recent tax cut debacle, she apparently did not even consult with her Cabinet.
The illusion of power seems to have gone to her head. A prime minister only remains in power if they control a majority within the House of Commons. They work with a Cabinet of colleagues – the prime minister being first among equals. Liz Truss seems to imagine that we have a presidential system, that she can make executive decisions independently. Political reality has shattered that illusion.
READ MORE: Those who hailed the top-rate tax cut are still welcome to leave Scotland
Regrettably, so early in her administration she has already shown her limitations, and this is why Boris Johnson pushed for her election. He sees her very likely failure as his best potential route back to power. He is relying on the shortness of people’s memories to hopefully conceal his well-documented incompetence, corruption and multiple failures under the more recent disastrous Truss premiership.
Can the Tory Party survive Liz Truss before suffering a devastating electoral defeat?
Andrew Milroy
Trowbridge, Wiltshire
IT does look ominous for Mad Lizzie and the Tories, after a very trying four weeks and a conference that can only be described as a disaster.
So emboldened and brazen that she is “going to face down the separatists.” I presume that will be the SNP, Plaid Cymru and Sinn Fein. The more she opens her mouth, the more it sounds like fantasy island.
READ MORE: Independence activist reflects on 'turning point' victory in Make Me Prime Minister
But what is she going to do about her own backbenchers? They are rumoured to be already sending in letters of no confidence to Sir Graham Brady and the chief Tory backstabbers better known as the 1922 committee. How is she going to face them down? Is she going to obey their every command, offer them positions of power? Will she be out before the new wallpaper has dried to the walls of Number 10? Or will the new curtains be drawn over this sad and sorry state of affairs before the Christmas turkey is ordered?
Talking of Christmas turkeys, can we have a clear and concise comment from the Scottish Tories and in particular the flip-flopping Douglas Ross? An answer to questions about leadership and policy – not gobble-de gook, but something we all understand – would help.
I won’t hold my breath.
Robert McCaw
Renfrew
THE Prime Minister and the Chancellor’s headlong rush for growth completes a Tory/Ukip hardline coup. A coup carried out without any democratic mandate, scrutiny or consent.
This insane lurch to the right, to extreme market fundamentalism, will almost certainly crash the the economy. It is likely to severely damage the welfare state, cause casino capitalism and create an oligarchy of corporate criminals, plundering the wealth of the nation.
READ MORE: Scotland to fall into recession, say Fraser of Allander Institute as Tory budget measures bite
The disgruntled voters who helped the hard right to carry out this coup are now ignored. At least May and Johnson acknowledged their concerns with some “levelling-up” slogans. Truss does not even bother, she blatantly redistributes wealth to enrich the already rich and offers us a derisory “trickle-down” slap in the face.
The cannon fodder of the Brexit disaster have now been dumped, the lie that it was a revolt against the metropolitan elite is now exposed. The promised sunlit uplands are now emerging in their full horror. A Britain deregulated from reality, of poverty wages and zero-hours contracts. Is it any wonder that even the Brexit voters of 2016 are looking back in horror?
To say I am angry is an understatement, my rage is incandescent.
Terry Keegans
Beith
WHY did Nicola Sturgeon think it necessary to bow her head to King Charles? All she had to do was to shake his hand and welcome him to Dunfermline instead of this unnecessary show of deference.
Kathleen McGibbon
Isle of Cumbrae
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