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Politics
Harry Fletcher
Sep 30, 2022
Richard Bacon says Liz Truss has done ‘more damage’ than Brexit and …
Question Time
Richard Bacon has been praised for pointing out just how much damage Liz Truss has managed to do to the economy in the space of a week.
The stability of Truss’s government is already looking very uncertain after the mini-Budget of tax giveaways for the rich was unveiled last week.
The PM’s chances of long-term survival were then dealt a massive blow by a bombshell series of polls, giving Labour leads of up to 33 points.
Plenty have criticised Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng since the mini-budget was announced last week – but Bacon gave one of the simplest and most effective summations on Question Time.
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"Liz Truss has done more damage to the British economy than Brexit, the war in Ukraine, or the pandemic. And she's done it since Friday," he said on the show.
\u201c"Liz Truss has done more damage to the British economy than Brexit, the war in Ukraine, or the pandemic. And she's done it since Friday."\n\nAny #FBPE agree with Richard Bacon? #BBCQT\u201d— Farrukh (@Farrukh) 1664489175
He later spoke about the future of Truss’s government, saying: “Whichever side of the fence you sit on, you don’t want the same party in government in perpetuity and it has now been 12 years, which is a long time… Governments tend to lose rather than opposition win,” he said, before referencing the new poll that put Labour 33 points above the Tories.
“It feels like a moment… it still seems like an extraordinary reaction to what happened last Friday. Liz Truss could go down in history as the person who wiped out the Conservatives.”
Bacon’s words were applauded in the audience and on social media.
\u201cRichard Bacon has just hit the biggest nail on the head in the HISTORY of BBC Question Time \u2026.\n\n\u201cLiz Truss has done more damage to the British economy than Brexit, the war in Ukraine and the pandemic\u2026. And she\u2019s done that since Friday\u201d\n\n#bbcqt #bbcquestiontime #richardbacon\u201d— Karl Cunliffe (@Karl Cunliffe) 1664488576
\u201cRichard Bacon doing a better job of hosting #bbcqt in half an hour than Fiona Bruce has in three years. An actual genuine attempt to hold the government to account.\u201d— H. N. Lloyd (Author/Crime Historian) (@H. N. Lloyd (Author/Crime Historian)) 1664489800
\u201cRichard Bacon \u201cLiz Truss could go down in history as the person who wiped out the Conservatives\u201d\n\n\u201d— Simon Gosden. Esq. #fbpe 3.5% \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83d\udc1f\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83e\udda0\ud83d\udc99 (@Simon Gosden. Esq. #fbpe 3.5% \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa\ud83d\udc1f\ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7\ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f\ud83e\udda0\ud83d\udc99) 1664511802
\u201cRichard Bacon to Tory MP Paul Scully regarding an audience members mortgage interest rate moving from 4.5% to 10.5% in less than a week: \u201cDoes that make you feel uncomfortable, Paul?\u201d\n\nAs of next week, replace Fiona Bruce with Richard Bacon\n\n#bbcqt\u201d— David (@David) 1664490039
\u201cI questioned the inclusion of Richard Bacon on #bbcqt but he is owning this and speaking so much sense!\u201d— Sherifs (@Sherifs) 1664489139
\u201cCan Richard Bacon present #bbcqt in future he\u2019s taking over from Fiona Bruce with better questions for the audience.\u201d— Keith Harris (@Keith Harris) 1664489849
\u201cCan we have Richard Bacon on every week? #bbcqt\u201d— Tom Lockwood (@Tom Lockwood) 1664489167
It’s also been confirmed that Truss and Kwarteng will meet the head of Britain's independent fiscal watchdog today following a market meltdown triggered by the mini-budget.
The chancellor has insisted that he is “sticking with” his mini-budget, despite it spooking markets and forcing an emergency Bank of England intervention.
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