Tory MP Johnny Mercer has said Liz Truss laughed at him when she sacked him as veterans minister, saying the move was a “gut punch” that cast him into depression. He also said the Prime Minister had lost authority by turning the Conservatives into a “libertarian” party and handing Labour a massive poll lead.
The Plymouth Moor View MP said that in dismissing him, Ms Truss reneged on the promise she made during her Tory leadership campaign that veterans’ affairs would not be downgraded under her Government. As soon as she took office on September 6, she removed him from his post and folded his responsibility for veteran care into James Heappey’s role as defence minister.
“When this happened it was such a gut punch. I remember Liz kind of laughing while she did it,” Mr Mercer said in an interview for the Men’s Health Talking Heads series by Alastair Campbell. “She was giggling and looking at the floor and I was just thinking ‘I am a mug for believing these guys’, and it sucked the air out of me.
