CONSERVATIVE politicians firmly believe members of the public are complete idiots – despite Liz Truss calling the Irish Taoiseach a “tea sock”, Nadine Dorries forgetting Scotland held the Commonwealth Games and Rishi Sunak thinking Darlington is in Scotland.
The latest evidence of this disdain for the public comes in an interview with Liz Truss for ConservativeHome.
Liz is running to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and so, thanks to the broken Westminster system, will also become the next Prime Minister without anyone except Tory members having a say.
She has clashed with her leadership rival Rishi in 23 debates now – or at least that’s how it feels.
Sunak repeatedly talked over Truss during the BBC edition of the head-to-head (which, of course, had no balance of any kind afterwards, because BBC impartiality only extends to ensuring climate change deniers get a seat at the table).
Following the debate, a spokesperson for Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’s campaign said: “Rishi Sunak has tonight proven he is not fit for office. His aggressive mansplaining and shouty private school behaviour is desperate, unbecoming and is a gift to Labour.”
Now, interviewed for ConservativeHome, Truss has been pressed on those comments by her team, shared in a tweet by a Times journalist.
She said: “Rishi is someone who, you know, is a very effective minister. I would be very pleased to have Rishi as part of my team, depending on how things work out, and I’m not in any way complacent.”
Asked whether she agreed with the message, Liz went on: “I don’t know anything about this tweet. I have to say that since this election campaign has started I’ve taken Twitter off my phone, and I’m living in bliss, just focussed on Conservative Party members, travelling round the country talking to members, and my positive message which is about turbo-charging our economy, unleashing the potential of Britain, keeping taxes low, being pro-business, that’s what my campaign is about.”
So, there we have it. Liz doesn’t know about her own campaign’s messaging, and confirms she’d accept Rishi in her team - while just days prior having her campaign team say the exact opposite.
And they wonder why trust in politicians is so low.
Scotland can do so much better.