Going for broke: the tragicomedy of Trussonomics

Liz Truss believed she was the keeper of the Thatcher flame, an iron lady who’d deliver ‘growth, growth, growth!’ As she defends her decisions in her new book, Chris Blackhurst looks back on the disaster that followed, which would be funny if its lasting effects were not so serious

That sinking feeling: the City spoke of Britain paying a ‘moron premium’ for the craziness caused by Liz Truss, (iStock/Getty/The Independent)

Having never been to the downstairs loo of Liz Truss, it’s impossible to vouch for what covers the walls.

If the former prime minister is like many folk and hangs framed press cuttings – the ones she wants to remember – then she could do a lot worse than choose the front page of the Daily Mail from 23 September last year. “At last, a true Tory budget!” proclaimed the paper. To emphasise the point, “true” was underlined.

Or Truss might pick The Daily Telegraph from the same day. “This was the best budget I have ever heard a chancellor deliver, by a massive margin,” declared Allister Heath.