Ever wondered whether Liz Truss saw the funny side when a lettuce outlived her time as Prime Minister? Well, the answer is a resounding no.
Speaking at the European Broadcasting Unionâs NewsXchange conference in Dublin on Monday, Truss said: âI donât think it was particularly funny, I think itâs puerile.â
While Truss was in office last year, the Daily Star ran a livestream of an iceberg lettuce in a blonde wig, challenging the former Prime Minister to last longer than the vegetableâs shelf life.
She resigned after 44 days of chaotic policymaking, which included a raft of unfunded tax cuts which sent markets into freefall. Meanwhile, the lettuce was still going strong.
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Asked by Irish broadcaster RTÃ what she thought about the stunt, she said: âI mean, whatâs the relevance of that? This is what Iâm talking about. To me itâs not a very relevant question.â
The Daily Star has since hit back, describing her in an article as a âfun spongeâ.
Meanwhile, social media users were bemused by her comments. One person joked: âStill found it impossible to romaine in the job though.â
\u201c@DominicPenna Still found it impossible to romaine in the job tho\u201dâ Dominic Penna (@Dominic Penna) 1687171022
Another commenter added: âAu contraire, those were truly her salad days.â
The 47-year-old also criticised the UKâs media more widely for treating politics as a âsoap operaâ and saying much of the reporting is âfrothâ that fails to engage with âthe underlying principlesâ of current affairs.
âI do think sometimes politics is sort of treated as a branch of the entertainment industry, whoâs up, whoâs down, who says what about who,â she added.
âI think the level of understanding of economic ideas in the media and the ability to explain them is very poor indeed.â
Economists across the political spectrum heavily criticised Trussâs economic policy while she was in power, including the International Monetary Fund, which is part of the United Nations.
Truss added: âI think the British media are known around the world for being particularly vociferous⦠I donât think theyâre particularly deferential to politicians.
âCertainly, when I went to international summits I would get a lot of sympathy from politicians from other countries who were saying: âMy God, your press. What are those people like?ââ
But, she admitted that the mediaâs irreverence is âa good thing on the wholeâ.
âAlthough I have suffered, personally, from it, Iâd rather live in a country where there is a robust debate than what the alternatives look like.â
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