Liz Truss responded to reports that Keir Starmer’s allies believe rival Andy Burnham would be the Labour equivalent to her by saying ‘He should be so lucky’
Wrecking ball Prime Minister Liz Truss has been mocked after a baffling comment after Labour’s Andy Burnham was compared to her.
The 49-day leader reacted to a report that Keir Starmer’s allies think Mr Burham would be “Labour’s Liz Truss”. The Tory, who lost her seat last year, quit No10 in 2022 after her disastrous mini-budget unleashed misery on millions.
She responded: “He (Mr Burnham) should be so lucky.” It sparked some puzzled responses, with one Twitter/X user writing: “As the shortest serving PM in history I’d show a bit of humility and self-awareness.”
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Another, accusing her of having a “brass neck”, wrote: “What was lucky about your crashing our economy, massively increasing our mortgages and damaging our pensions?”
It comes as Kemi Badenoch comes under pressure to kick Ms Truss – who has been increasingly testy in recent weeks – out of the Tory Party. She sparked fury after telling a US network that Tommy Robinson had been “unfairly demonised”.
She lashed out at Labour deputy leader contender Bridget Phillipson for calling on Ms Badenoch to remove her. Ms Phillipson responded: “You weren’t fit to be Prime Minister. Your revolting support for Tommy Robinson just underlines that. Time for Kemi Badenoch to find the guts to chuck you out.”
In recent days Ms Truss has called for the BBC to have its White House credentials removed, agreed with Donald Trump about immigration and whined about the Bank of England.
Her comment came amid growing speculation that Greater Manchester Mayor Mr Burnham is weighing up a leadership challenge against Keir Starmer. But in order to do so he would need to get back into Parliament by winning a by-election.
In a swipe at the PM, he said Mr Starmer’s team have created a “climate of fear” – with “wholesale change” needed to turn things around. In an interview with The Telegraph, the Greater Manchester Mayor said there is an “existential” threat to the Labour Party. He called for higher council tax on homes in the south and a 50p top rate of interest.
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Mr Burnham also said MPs had been encouraging him to challenge the PM. Asked about the remarks he said: “When I left Westminster, which is almost 10 years ago now, I took a vow not to speak in code, to answer honestly, as people say politicians don’t do.
“Well, I do try and do that. So I was asked a direct question by a journalist and I gave an honest answer. And obviously that’s been been reported today.
“MPs were in touch with me. But let me also gave an honest explanation of what I said to those MPs. It’s not up to me. It’s not my decision. That’s a matter for you, for the party in Parliament. And also I said to them, it’s got to be about more than a personality contest.”
And he continued: “I gave an honest answer and sometimes it feels to me that the Westminster world can’t deal with those answers.”
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