SO he’s gone. Kwasi Kwarteng is now officially the worst and second-shortest serving chancellor in British history. The holder of the shortest serving chancellor title was Iain Macleod - who died of a heart attack 30 days into the job.
Kwarteng was an appalling concoction of arrogance, blind dogma and thorough stupidity. Yet his sacrifice only underscores the moral vacuum at the heart of not just the Liz Truss government, but Liz Truss herself. Kwarteng was doing her bidding. His mistakes were her mistakes, yet he falls, not the Prime Minister - a woman who tanks the British economy every time she opens her mouth.
Neil Mackay: A sentimental journey into the secret heart of Britain from prosecco queens to the homeless
Kwarteng’s fall was inevitable. He could not stay. He and his leader used the British economy and people as live subjects in a risible and deadly experiment. They failed spectacularly: crashing the pound and imperilling mortgages, pensions and livelihoods - in the midst of the worst economic crisis in generations. They've made Britain a laughing stock on the world stage. Their mismanagement of Britain’s affairs has been tantamount to criminal.
Liz Truss’s fall is also inevitable. She cannot stay. If she remains, then the Tory party abnegates all sense of moral responsibility, killing the notion that leaders lead, and if leaders fail they face the consequences, not underlings.
The Tory Party knows her time is up. The people know her time is up. The dogs in the street know her time is up. Even Liz Truss - surely - must know her time is up. She’s stupid but she’s not that stupid.
You can get the full article and latest headlines directly to your inbox by signing up to The Herald's political newsletter, Unspun, for FREE and unrivalled political analysis in your inbox every day at 6pm.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel