Britain has become the laughing stock of the world media when Liz Truss resigned today after her leadership went “from absurd to ridiculous” amid daily scenes of “abject chaos” in parliament.
Column inches from Australia to America, Ireland to India and across mainland Europe are filled with ridicule for both ‘hopeless and hapless’ Truss and a Tory party they said was doomed ‘by its own idiocy’.
But the tone was far from cheerful. Many seemed deeply shocked that the British Parliament, a ‘temple of democracy and the oldest traditions’, has been reduced to a ‘circus’ that was said to turn the venerable UK into a ‘banana republic’.
After Truss announced her resignation to the British public today, after being in power for just 44 days, world media noted that ‘the political chaos in the UK continues’.
In almost daily attacks since Truss’ “tax event” threw a wrecking ball into the financial markets, commentators have been reduced to head-shaking disbelief at each new twist and turn in the ever-deepening “farce.”
Le Monde, one of France’s largest daily newspapers, said Truss stepped down as prime minister after the ‘debacle’ over her ‘mini-budget’ and called for her resignation.
And now that Truss has stepped down, the German newspaper Bild reports, the ‘chaos’ continues.
Liberation, a French daily, headlined: ‘Liz Truss resigns, UK political chaos’.
After Truss announced her resignation to the British public today after being in power for just 44 days, world media noted that ‘the political chaos in the UK continues’
Britain has become the laughing stock of world media as Liz Truss stepped down today after her leadership went ‘from absurd to ridiculous’ amid daily scenes of ‘abject chaos’ in parliament
After Truss announced her resignation to the British public today after being in power for just 44 days, world media noted that ‘the political chaos in the UK continues’
And now that Truss has resigned, the German newspaper Bild reports, the ‘chaos’ continues
Le Monde, one of France’s largest daily newspapers, said Truss stepped down as prime minister after the ‘debacle’ over her ‘mini-budget’ and calls for her resignation
Before Truss announced her resignation, The Hindu newspaper wrote that Britain is fast becoming a ‘warning story’ about the effects of ‘bad politics’.
Rob Harris, in the Sydney Morning Herald, summed up last night’s commotion in the House of Commons by saying that Truss’ rule had gone “from absurd to downright ridiculous”.
“Liz Truss’s premiership has actually been days, maybe even weeks,” he wrote, “but she has yet to be put out of her misery in a cruel way.
“It’s coming, there’s no doubt about it. And in the interest of everyone, it really has to get along.’
Liberation discovered “something rancid in Tory tea” that said the “circus to which we are now accustomed” has degenerated into “absolute, utter and despicable chaos.”
Britain has become the laughing stock of the world media as Liz Truss’ leadership moves “from absurd to ridiculous” amid daily scenes of “abject chaos” in parliament. Pictured: Le Monde, one of France’s largest daily newspapers, said Truss is now a prime minister “without authority or political ideology,” and has scrapped almost all of her key policies since taking power.
Britain, The Hindu newspaper wrote, is fast becoming a ‘warning tale’ about the effects of ‘bad politics’
Rob Harris, in the Sydney Morning Herald, summed up last night’s uproar in the House of Commons by saying that Truss’s reign had gone ‘from absurd to downright ridiculous’.
Commenting on the other political drama of the day – the resignation of Home Secretary Suella Braverman – The Irish Times said it showed ‘Truss is nowhere near the prison she’s landed in because of her obsession with tax cuts.
The Westminster Parliament, temple of democracy and the oldest traditions, but also the most hushed and civilized, has been the scene of absolutely mind-boggling scenes, while ministers were ‘manipulated’ by the voting lobbies, the paper said.
Responding to the other political drama of the day – the resignation of Home Secretary Suella Braverman – The Irish Times said it showed “Truss is a long way from getting out of the prison she’s landed in because of her obsession with tax cuts.”
Columnist Martin Kettle added: “These posts were once called some of the great offices of the state.
“Now they are just sticks passed, dropped and exchanged in the endless ministerial relay race and permanent leadership contest to which the party has now been reduced by its own idiocy.”
The Tories, he concluded, “are an ungovernable party, more than ever incapable of governing the country.”
Italy’s La Repubblica compared Truss’s government to ‘a ship desperately throwing ballast overboard so as not to sink’
Liberation, a French daily, discovered ‘something rancid in Tory tea’ that says the ‘circus to which we are now accustomed’ has degenerated into ‘absolute, utter and despicable chaos’
Meanwhile, Colombian daily El Colombiano called the prime minister ‘Liz Truss the Brief’
Le Mondeone of France’s largest daily newspapers, agreed, saying Truss is now a prime minister “without authority or political ideology,” and has scrapped nearly all of her major policies since taking power.
“How long can she last?” was the headline in Germany’s usually conservative-friendly tabloid Bild, when it described a “chaotic” evening in parliament that “pushed the Tory’s nerves to their limits.”
It added: “The governmental crisis in London, which has been smoldering for weeks, has worsened considerably.”
Italy’s La Republica compared the Truss government to “a ship desperately throwing ballast overboard so as not to sink.”
Meanwhile Colombian daily newspaper, El Colombianocalled the prime minister “Liz Truss the Brief.”
“What’s happening in the UK is really an interesting hard landing exercise,” it said.
Liz Truss, Britain’s prime minister for just six weeks, has managed to drag her party and the country into debacle like never before. And with such speed.
“Clinging to her ideology, and removed from the reality of the country, Truss is a perfect example of what it means to go against common sense.”
It added: “She is not alone, behind her is all the stubbornness of a Conservative party who believed that by supporting Brexit and detaching from the European Union they would be able to restore the empire that they ever were.
‘That’s not the reality. That train left a long time ago.’
Truss is today embroiled in an increasingly desperate struggle for survival as the 1922 commission chief went to Downing Street for talks.
Sir Graham Brady is in Number 10 to meet with the Prime Minister after a 24-hour carnage that saw the Home Secretary resigned, confusion over whether the Chief Whip had followed her out the door, and MPs struggling in the voting lobbies of the House of Commons.
No 10 sources said the prime minister invited the party store steward for a discussion after a ‘difficult day’ – but denied she intended to resign.
The confrontation comes as a series of previously loyal MPs urge her to leave. Even supportive cabinet ministers had admitted that the situation is ‘terminal’.