A former Tory minister has brutally called out “bitter, toxic nut” Liz Truss after The London Economic revealed the former PM plans to launch her own “free speech” social media network similar to Donald Trump’s Truth Social.
The former Conservative health minister Edwina Currie said the idea that Truss is representing Britain on the world stage is “absolutely mad”, adding “I hope she stays in America and I hope nobody on Times Radio bothers to listen to her because you are just giving her air time.”
Sir Anthony Seldon, the historian who wrote ‘Truss at 10 – How not to be prime minister’, said: “I think it matters how former prime ministers behave and we are again back to that character question, aren’t we.
“Someone who has been a prime minister, even just for 49 days as in her case, has a duty to the country and indeed to themselves to behave in a way that is fitting and appropriate and I fear she doesn’t have that critical judgment.
“Judgement is the great, undervalued and overlooked quality in leaders. Donald Trump, I don’t think, has judgment. Our head of state, the king, does have impeccable judgment. And if you don’t have it, you become a laughing stock.
“I still live in the hope, Liz Truss, who has many skills and qualities and was Britain’s third female prime minister, will come to her senses and spend the rest of her days doing good and sensible things with a sense of public service, rather than what she is doing at the moment.”
Political editor Robert Peston noted on his ITV podcast that Truth Social is used so Americans can see “what is going to happen in the world” as Donald Trump posts his news exclusively on his platform. In contrast, he joked, Brits won’t have to read Liz Truss’ media site to know what is happening “in the world or even her own home”.
The short-serving former PM brought up her plan to start an alternative social platform at a Bitcoin conference called ‘Saving the West’ over the weekend after attacking the establishment for bringing her down after less than 50 days in power.
“We are planning to launch it in the summer of this year, and there will be more news about it fairly soon, but I can’t say anymore at this stage,” she said to a hall of attendees who forked out between £250 to £1,000 to listen to her speak in “the home of free speech” in Bedford.
She said: “I want to see a massive change in Britain. I became an MP in 2010 because I wanted to see the country change. Because I’m a patriot and want to see Britain do well. I hated the decline and the acceptance of decline.
“I rose up the ministerial ranks and had all these battles. I got to the top and thought now I finally have an opportunity to actually do what needs to be done in the country [such as] cutting taxes, getting on with fracking, reducing the size of the state [and] all of those things and I was cut off at the knees by the economic establishment and the elites. The people who didn’t want change and the status quo-ists.
“That has made me think it is not enough just to get into No 10. You might think you can just get into No 10 and sign things off: you can’t. What I’m now thinking is we need a media network to be able to communicate to people so we can have a grassroots movement that is really demanding change of our leaders. As well as needing the good leaders, MPs, and business people running the departments, we actually need a grassroots movement in this country; otherwise, we won’t get the change.”
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