Comments by "Ash Roskell" (@ashroskell) on "preview of a new book by Anthony Seldon on Liz Truss" video.
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Hmmm . . . Well, one can always argue that Johnson made both Truss and Sunack a thing, and as to lasting damage, that’s hard to quantify. We’ll never know how things would have played out if he had supported Teresa May’s plans for Brexit, instead of sabotaging what would have been a far less bumpy ride for Britain than what we got, whilst stabbing her in the back and front, merely for his own Machiavellian ends.
Seldon does write well and entertainingly. He - or, he and his colleagues (whom are fully accredited as co-authors on the covers of his books, btw) - is/are insightful and his book on Johnson seemed wholly accurate and justified to me . . . as well as just a good read.
So, whilst I too will take some convincing, I will at least listen to his arguments with an open mind, as I would to almost anyone who is a true believer is history and its importance as a learning tool for us all.
But I must contradict you on one point. Truss has absolutely zero, “ideas of her own.” I can understand why they seem that way, given how outlandish her political philosophy seemed at the time, even to her fellow party members. But, if you know anything about the, “Tufty Club,” or the Tufton Street so called, “think tanks,” and their American financial backers, you will see that her entire philosophy, as stated out loud and as attempted in reality, was directly derived from their Neo Liberal clap trap, of the type that the Tea Party and other far right American financial cartels spout. Nothing new or original in any of it, and most certainly not, “her,” ideas.
She has merely acted as an empty vessel for these foreign and domestic investors who took advantage of her, “born again,” zeal, and the fact that she was more or less a blank slate to be filled with whatever nonsense they fed her.
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Seldon writes with almost brutal frankness and honesty, and with a captivating prose style. He seems to have a co-writer on nearly all of his most recent projects. He self describes his biography of Boris Johnson as a, “cautionary tale of individual and institutional failure,” which was spot on.
I was fascinated by the parallels he drew between the careers and personalities of Johnson and Lloyd George, which I found deeply insightful. Contrasting their differences too was salient.
He hopes we can learn lessons from contemporary history and I will always give my time and attention to a true believer in history as a project for learning. After all, it was Johnson’s idol, Winston Churchill, who told a journalist that the way to get good at leadership in politics was to study, “History, history and history. Therein lay all the secrets of statecraft.”
Therefore, on that basis, I am willing to hear out Seldon’s argument. Like you, I doubt very much if Seldon will convince me that Truss was a better PM than . . . well, frankly, anyone. But, “scatty,” or not; relying on his co-writers or not, he deserves to be heard with an open mind.
If Seldon were to stand a serious chance of convincing me, the focus would necessarily have to be on how much, “worse,” Johnson was than I realised, rather than convincing me that Truss had any redeeming characteristics as a political leader. We already know she has literally nothing that she can point to and call an, “achievement.” And she has so much damage to account for, which continues to pass unacknowledged by her or any of her people, let alone apologised for. Her electoral defenestration was as close as we’ll ever get to, “accountability,” with her.
But, Seldon will entertain me and enlighten me, whether he convinces me or not. So, I’ll get the audiobook to see me through the home improvements I’m working on and my mornings walking the doggle. It will be worth a listen.
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