Liz Truss legal letter to Sir Keir Starmer the latest disaster from joke that keeps on giving

Some politicians cause such profound damage to the country it is hard to forgive them, especially when it is matched with such a callous disregard. David Cameron calling a Brexit referendum, George Osborne’s austerity or Nick Clegg’s abandonment of students before joining Facebook.

Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss attends the 'Popular Conservatives' conference on 6 February 2024 in London (Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Liz Truss should be in this category, with the former prime minister crashing the economy, seeing more than five million families face massive rises in their mortgage payments, leading to the pound collapsing, shortly followed by her premiership.

The consequences of this are the dire financial straits the country is in now. Yet I cannot find it in myself to hate Truss. Nor do I pity her. Instead, I read each latest outburst with the grin of a child first discovering the Harry Potter books, relishing the story, ignoring just how awful the author is.

This came to the fore yet again this week, after the former member for South West Norfolk sent a legal letter to Sir Keir Starmer demanding he stops making “false and defamatory” claims that she crashed the economy. The former prime minister sent a six-page “cease and desist” letter accusing Sir Keir of harming her reputation and contributing to her losing her seat.

Reader, I could have died. Indeed when I first read it, I went into shock, mind whirring at what must be a joke, a parody headline because nobody, I mean nobody, is so fragile and foolish to resort to legal action. But Truss has, perhaps worried about sales of her book, or that Americans at right-wing conferences will go from not knowing who she is, to joining in the endless laughter her name provokes.

It is beyond funny and fits Truss’s place in our political history perfectly. Former prime minister Gordon Brown is a United Nationals special envoy, writes reports on the Union and fights child poverty in his own time. Theresa May now campaigns against modern slavery and human trafficking. Truss writes legal letters and hopes she might get to go on telly and talk about herself.

Former Prime Minister Liz Truss reading a statement outside 10 Downing Street

The letter is worrying about a reputation when the horse has bolted, the lettuce has outlasted you and your career prospects are as a right-wing shock jock. She’s gone from being the most powerful person in the country, to the career path of a cancelled TV presenter, doomed to trawl the lowest tier of television defending free speech and railing against the elites, while at the same time paying lawyers to warn people not to say things you don’t like. It's the political equivalent of the Alliance of Magicians from Arrested Development, who pose with a sign saying "we demand to be taken seriously".

It is also notable that Truss is suddenly brave enough to call out certain phrases or language she disagrees with, having had no problem sharing a stage with Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who called for the execution of the federal government's infectious disease expert and the director of the FBI. The difference is, I suppose, that isn’t about her.

It must be frustrating to have your legacy be the shortest term of office and crashing the economy. But I suppose a way to avoid that would be simply not crashing the economy. Given that was too much of an ask, at least she insists on making sure we never forget, let alone forgive.