Trussonomics doesn’t add up

I’ve been lucky enough in my working life so far to hold a string of jobs that have allowed me – if not actively encouraged me – to be critical of government. Coming up through Westminster thinktanks in my twenties, I had great fun putting out press releases that tore apart bad public policy. When I had the opportunity to speak to MPs, they’d remind me of the ‘political realities’ that tied their hands and prevented change. In other words, check your policy privilege. Thinktank wonks, commentators and journalists can make all the punchy points they want; they don’t face re-election.

But there was one politician who over the years consistently took the side of the wonks; who thought liberal reforms were possible, so long as one made a compelling case for change. This is how Liz Truss became the darling of the free-market right.

In response to sugar taxes and crackdowns on junk-food adverts, Truss labelled her own government the ‘banny state’. As chief secretary to the Treasury, she lambasted the tax burden hovering near a 50-year high (a low-tax utopia, compared with today). No matter which ministerial job she held, Truss was loud and unshakeable in her commitment to individualism and personal liberty. We free-market types couldn’t get enough.

Often when MPs ascend the government ranks, they quietly drop out of thinktank initiatives designed to bring together free-market politicians. Not Truss. She would stay close to these projects, always turning up to policy paper launches and drinks receptions to give speeches. She was good at garnering media attention. When the Institute of Economic Affairs launched a social freedoms paper in 2019, with the essay ‘On the Nanny State’ penned by Truss, Krispy Kreme doughnuts were piled high on tables as a statement against anti-sugar policies – and for selfies.