Londoner’s Diary
IN a publicity masterstroke, Liz Truss’s publisher released the cover of the US version of her forthcoming book today to coincide with her trip to America. The former PM is in the States for the Conservative Political Action Conference, where she spoke alongside Nigel Farage.
Former US president Donald Trump will give a keynote speech at the weekend. The US cover of Truss’s book, Ten Years To Save The West, gives a helpful reminder in large type that she is a former British prime minister. It also carries a cover quote from fellow former PM Boris Johnson, pictured. “Liz Truss is right that the last thing any of us needs now is more socialism, more taxes and more regulation,” reads Johnson’s note. She managed to rope in chess champion Garry Kasparov for an approving quote, “agree or disagree with Liz’s politics, she asks the right questions”.
Johnson has been making headlines in the US today after clashing with journalist Tucker Carlson. He criticised Carlson for interviewing Vladimir Putin, so Carlson requested an interview with Boris about Ukraine. Then, according to Carlson, Johnson’s team demanded a $1 million payment. Team BoJo claim the money was for Ukrainian charities. How much did Truss’s cover quote set her back?
The fibbed and fibbing
Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch likes to throw the word “liar” about. Though the term is considered unparliamentary and banned in the Commons, she bandies it liberally outside the chamber. She called Labour MP Kate Osborne a liar when they clashed over trans issues last year.
She also used the word this week to describe former Post Office chair Henry Staunton when he made claims about her handling of the subpostmasters scandal. But is it Badenoch who has a difficult relationship with the truth? She has faced three separate accusations of fibbing this week alone. Staunton has batted back that she is the one dissimulating about the Post Office (and the PM seems reluctant to back her).
Canada’s UK High Commissioner Ralph Goodale has said she is delusional when she boasts about non-existent trade talks. And Nadine Dorries, pictured, has produced WhatsApps that seem to contradict claims Badenoch made about her in a recent Times interview. Badenoch has her eyes on the Tory leadership, but how much a tangled web might she weave to get there?
