It is perhaps understandable that after a chaotic 49 days in Downing Street that shattered the hard-won reputation of being the longest serving minister in the Cabinet, Liz Truss wanted a chance to tell her side of the story.
But while she admits she wasn’t “innocent” in fueling the market turmoil that sent mortgages up by millions, the former prime minister’s 4,000-word essay is largely unrepentant.
The Bank of England, Treasury No. 10, the Office of Fiscal Responsibility (OBR), US President Joe Biden, the IMF, and even their own Conservative Party are all identified as part of an “economic orthodoxy” that is simply not ready. was for a farm growth plan.
Ms. Truss also fails to accept that the economic carnage she presided over nearly destroyed the Tory’s chances of winning the next election, and the party’s reputation for financial literacy has been damaged.
While some aspects of her growth advocacy may make sense as Britain slips into recession and reaches out to some savvy senior Conservative MPs, the nature and timing of her intervention means the woman was once a “human hand grenade”. again damaging the government and its party.
Allies insist Ms Truss does not want to undermine her successor Rishi Sunak or chancellor Jeremy Hunt, whom she has effectively placed in the Treasury to calm the markets.
But the timing of her return will only exacerbate the divisions among the conservatives, who have resurfaced over the tax cut a month ahead of the budget.
Perhaps worse, it will only remind voters of the damage the party has done to the economy and its own finances, while Sunak stabilizes the Tories and for the first time in more than a year begins to demonstrate government jurisdiction.
On a farewell day last month, cabinet ministers were told that the Tories still had a narrow path to victory in the next election, but Ms Truss’s presence would only bring matters closer.