Truss storms off stage at event over lettuce prank
Liz Truss stormed off stage at an event to promote her book after a banner featuring a lettuce was unfurled behind her as part of a stunt by a campaign group.
The former UK prime minister, who lasted just 49 days in office, was addressing an audience in Suffolk yesterday when the banner, emblazoned with the vegetable and carrying the words “I crashed the economy”, was unveiled.
The stunt was a reference to the challenge set by the Daily Star in October 2022 to see if her premiership could outlast the shelf life of a head of lettuce.
The salad leaves lasted longer than the Tory prime minister’s government, which collapsed in the wake of a largely unfunded mini-budget which caused mortgages across the UK to shoot up.
A video of the prank this week shows Ms Truss saying: “I support Trump and I want him to win.”
Unaware of the banner behind her, she said: “I think it was Bill Clinton’s adviser who said ‘it’s the economy stupid’, so I think he [Trump] will probably win.”
Ms Truss appeared to be visibly irritated by the prank, saying “that’s not funny”, before collecting her belongings and leaving the stage.
Political campaign group Led by Donkeys claimed credit for the stunt, posting a video online with the caption: “Liz Truss is on a pro-Trump speaking tour. So we dropped a strategically positioned remote-controlled lettuce banner.”
The same group conducted a similar stunt earlier this year, disrupting a speech by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage using a remote-controlled banner with a picture of the Russian president which read, “I heart Putin”.
Ms Truss was contacted for comment. (© The Independent)