Liz Truss Unamused by Lettuce Saga

Liz Truss is not finding amusement in the lettuce that outlasted her tenure as prime minister. When asked about the Daily Star’s live stream of a lettuce that survived longer than her chaotic period in Downing Street, Truss failed to see the humor in it.

During an interview with Irish broadcaster RTÉ on Monday, Truss expressed her displeasure at the question, calling it puerile. She was attending the European Broadcasting Union’s NewsXchange conference in Dublin, where she primarily discussed foreign affairs and U.K.-Chinese relations. Truss made history as the first former U.K. prime minister to visit Taiwan in May and has been an advocate for stronger Western action against China.

However, the focus of the interview with RTÉ’s David McCullagh revolved around Truss’s short stint as prime minister. She faced a quick loss of public and party support after announcing significant borrowing and unfunded tax cuts, which she later reversed within weeks.

Truss defended her actions by stating that the U.K. was in a state of serious economic trouble and she needed to take bold measures to reverse the declining economic growth. She acknowledged her lack of support from Tory MPs and admitted that she could have taken a more gradual approach to her economic reforms.

The former prime minister also criticized the U.K. media for treating politics as a mere soap opera. Truss expressed her concern over the superficial coverage of political events, emphasizing the media’s poor understanding of economic ideas and their ability to explain them. Economists from a broad spectrum had previously criticized Truss’s economic reforms, both before and after she implemented them during her short tenure.