Instead, Truss herself appears to be on fighting form. Anyone hoping to see an apologetic interview is likely to be left disappointed by the 50-minute conversation.
When pressed, she did not appear to regret the sacking of Tom Scholar, the long-serving Treasury permanent secretary, ahead of the mini-Budget. And she didn’t go all the way to saying she regrets announcing the 45p tax cut for the richest – instead saying “perhaps” it was a bridge too far. She seemed surprisingly chipper for a politician who had to resign after just seven weeks in the top job. There were a few hints of the personal toll that period took on her. When I asked what effect the criticism had had at the time, she would only comment: “If you say what personal toll did it take on me, it was tough, but I just got on with it.”
However, when we asked her about having to sack her closest political ally and long-time friend Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor, there was a pause when I thought there was a glimpse of raw emotion – as she said how difficult the episode had been. Even now, she wasn’t sure if it was the right move.