Let’s back Liz Truss in creating an aspiration nation

There is an odd feeling to this change of government. It is not just that the Johnson administration went out in sunshine and a final burst of oratorical exuberance, followed by the advent of the Truss government under cloudbursts and with an extremely pedestrian speech by the incoming prime minister. Cavalier gives way to Roundhead might be the psychological impression; but impressions can be misleading and it seems likely that an awful lot of people are completely misreading the situation and missing the underlying reality.

The venom with which Liz Truss’s accession to the premiership has been greeted by Labour, the Lib Dems, hostile media, Twitter loons and those damaged people known as “stand-up comedians” is a reflection not of any deficiencies on the part of the Prime Minister, but of a sickness afflicting British society since the Brexit referendum. This government has been damned by self-styled opinion formers and influencers before it has even held its first Cabinet meeting.

The public, however, may see things differently. While the latest YouGov poll shows the Tories now 15 points behind Labour, that survey was taken last week, at the height of public frustration over the seeming paralysis of government during the leadership election – “the longest job interview in history”, in the Prime Minister’s own words – and the depths of despair over remorselessly rising energy bills. That situation is unlikely still to obtain by the end of this week.

A northern woman reportedly said of Liz Truss, in a vox pop, that all she wanted from her was that she and her family should have the fear of ruination by huge energy bills lifted from them. It seems likely that Truss will freeze energy bills at £2,500 over the next two winters. That is high enough to incentivise people not to squander energy, but low enough to prevent a national catastrophe. It is estimated to cost £130bn, plus a further £40bn to save businesses, some of which are facing six-figure energy bills. To put those sums in perspective, the pandemic furlough scheme cost £70bn.

This means that, on her first day in office, Liz Truss has had to commit herself to a fiscal extravagance that is diametrically opposed to her core beliefs. To purists criticising this, the obvious response is: what else could she do? The implosion of the British economy – businesses, jobs, tax revenue – under the pressure of rampantly unaffordable energy bills would cost a lot more than £170bn. The political costs would be unthinkable.

There is a congruency here with Boris Johnson, who similarly faced a national emergency and had no alternative but to loosen the purse-strings. The crucial difference is that he then became addicted to spending; Liz Truss will not. She will also know that, despite the regrettable expansion of borrowing represented by her energy rescue package, the markets are already factoring in its likely effect in bringing down UK inflation sooner than would otherwise have been the case.

As the (relatively) big beasts emerged from Number 10, confirmed in their portfolios, there was much denunciation of Liz Truss for putting to the sword those who had been Ready for Rishi, rather than welcoming them into a big tent. This is the dilemma that incoming prime ministers have always faced, even before the introduction of the present system of Conservative leadership elections. Do they pack their Cabinet with like-minded loyalists, in the interests of getting business done effectively, or do they introduce debate and contention into government from the outset?

Margaret Thatcher started with a big tent that diminished year by year, as Wets were replaced by people who were rated One of Us. Liz Truss cannot afford that luxury. She already has the more demented elements of the Opposition and the media screaming at her because they will have to wait until Thursday to learn details of the energy emergency bailout. She knows she faces a choice between letting the Sunak supporters in, to pour grit into the workings of government from day one, or leave them outside, mouthing insincere expressions of loyalty for a few months, until they find a pretext to go openly into opposition.

Truss has calculated the latter is the less dangerous option, since even the sackful of fighting stoats that is the Conservative Party could hardly remove another leader before the 2024 election without attracting the professional interest of the Masters in Lunacy. The Tory Party has turned into a Fratricide Club: blue-on-blue aggression has become a primal instinct; it seems virtually unaware of the existence of an official Opposition.

The establishment attitude to Truss is patronising and snobbish. That bodes well for her eventual rapport with the electorate. She is a flat public speaker and that is hugely to her advantage, especially post-Boris. The public longs for a straight-talking politician who will tell the truth and, when that is unpalatable, provide the solution – as with the energy crisis. Her ordinariness could be her greatest strength. If, by this weekend, people can sleep soundly, relieved at least of energy bill terrors, that can only redound to the credit of Liz Truss.

That is how she should govern: without overblown rhetoric or political jargon, getting things done in a businesslike way. Her government is inexperienced, but not without talent. Thérèse Coffey’s record as an administrator at Work and Pensions suggests she might make a real impression on the dysfunctional NHS. Kwasi Kwarteng as Chancellor brings Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street back into harmonious alignment. There are possibilities here, grounds for cautious optimism.

It is also a Conservative government, possibly the first since 1990. Liz Truss, despite U-turns in the past, is a conviction politician. She has a vision – of Britain as “an aspiration nation”. As she stood alone at the lectern outside Number 10, it was impossible to avoid a momentary impression of vulnerability, considering the massive problems this woman has to deal with, to bring Britain back from the brink – through the storm, as she expressed it. At the very least she deserves the benefit of the doubt; realistically, she needs our wholehearted support.

Anyone who doubts that should take a look at the alternatives – the baying Labour doctrinaires, the sour Liberal Democrat incompetents and the wholly detached from reality Scottish separatists on the opposing benches. Britain is only one electoral misjudgement away from dissolution and bankruptcy. Liz Truss has found the courage to accept the challenge; we have a moral duty, in the national interest, to support her.

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