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. While Truss did clarify that she was “not, by the way, saying that I got everything right, absolutely not” – pointing to failures on her side both on communication and the No 10 infrastructure – it’s clear that she puts plenty of the blame on others, such as the OBR and the lack of warning over pension liabilities.
When pressed, she does not appear to regret the sacking of Tom Scholar, the long-serving Treasury permanent secretary, ahead of the mini-Budget. And she doesn’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 she wasn’t sure if it was the right move.
katyballs Yep, she should be in jail.