Here’s the question to define this sorry era: Truss or Johnson, which is worse?

‘Liz Truss is doing her best to make Boris Johnson look good in comparison.’ Johnson and Truss visit GKN Aerospace, Bristol, October 2021. Photograph: Andrew Parsons/No10 Downing Street

One reason Boris Johnson hung on for so long, when it was obvious he was a brazen liar, is that no one had a good answer to the question of who should replace him. Many a reprobate has profited from the principle of “better the devil you know”.

Those who warned us that the alternatives to Johnson could have been even worse are probably feeling quite smug now. Kwasi Kwarteng’s brutal special fiscal operation has confirmed that the policies of Truss’s government are far worse than those of her predecessor.