James Barnes
Former Prime Minister and current Tory MP Liz Truss has found herself embroiled in controversy following a recent bout of interviews and speeches in the US, during which she made claims her resignation was the result of a ‘deep state’ plot.
When appointed as Prime Minister in September of 2022, Liz Truss would likely have envisioned the next few years of her career spent alongside fellow heads of government and addressing the world, Instead, sat beside former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, Truss spent her time addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference, a grassroots gathering of controversial right-wing figures, in Maryland.
In her best efforts to fit in, Truss wasted no time equipping a flamboyant Conservative rhetoric
The conference, held from the 21st to the 24th of February boasted a long list of eccentric public figures, from the representative of a conservative Japanese cult to a US senator who was part of a group trying to overturn the election of Joe Biden to the White House.
In her best efforts to fit in, Truss wasted no time equipping a flamboyant Conservative rhetoric. This was at odds with her ‘leftist’ past as a Liberal Democrat, as a piece from Raheem Kassam’s website explains.
In her speech to the fairly uninhabited conference hall, Truss made claims that her economic policies were sabotaged by a ‘deep state’. The former Prime Minister also asserted in her speech that Conservatives were now operating in a hostile environment and that ‘left-wing elites’ would be aided and abetted by China, Iran and Russia.
But it was Truss’s silence during an interview with Donald Trump’s former strategist Steve Bannon that intensified criticism. Bannon praised the former leader of the English Defence League, Tommy Robinson, as a ‘hero’, with no pushback from Truss.
In an interview with Sky News Anneliese Dodds, chair of the Labour Party, condemned comments made by Truss, accusing her of “propagating conspiracy theories” and “associating with individuals who have actually praised the far right in our country”.
Labour has called for the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to remove the Tory whip
In the days following her CPAC appearances, Labour has called for the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to remove the Tory whip from Truss. At this point in time however no such action has been taken and Truss is yet to face any form of disciplinary consequence.
This barrage of criticisms from the Labour Party and media come at a time in which the Conservatives were already facing an unravelling backlash for comments made by Truss’s former fellow Conservative MP, Lee Anderson. Anderson had the whip removed from him after he made claims that Islamists had taken control of London and its mayor Sadiq Khan. He has since left the Conservatives for Reform UK.
A spokesperson for the former Prime minister did not respond to a request for comment. When approached by the BBC on the streets of Westminster, Truss remained silent when asked about Robinson and whether the deep state was responsible for her downfall.
James Barnes
Featured image courtesy of Lucas Sankey via Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.
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