Fṛm Đ Gardịn: Fair play to Truss: stripped of competence or compassion, her extremism is refreshingly clear

‘Liz Truss can’t escape the temper of the times, which has turned against her and her party.’ Truss delivers her conference speech in Birmingham on Wednesday. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
‘Liz Trus c’nt iscep ɖ tmpr v ɖ tîmz, ẃć hz trnd agnst hr n hr parti.’ Trus dlivrz hr confṛns spīć in Brmñm on Wnzde. Foṭgraf: Crsti Wiglzwrʈ/AP

Fer ple t Trus: stript v compitns or cmpaśn, hr xtrimizm z rfreśñli clir

(Transcription of an article published in the Guardian on 7 October 2022)

Ɖs z hǎ bad guvnmnts dî – wɖ ɖ masc fōḷn awe, ɖer wrst fes rvild

Jonathan Freedland

Joṇʈn Frīdḷnd, Frîde 7 Octobr 2022

Z  it tù sn t ofr a smōl wrd in dfns v Liz Trus? I aprīśiet ɖt ɖs z a lonli indevr. In ẃt śd b hr hunimūn pirịd, ɖ ny prîm̦inistr hz instd prizntd ɖ ilectṛt wɖ multipl grǎndz fr dvors. Poulñ sjsts ś’z abt az popylr az a Covid swet. Stl, Trus dzrvz prêz fr wn ʈñ at līst. Ẃt ś brñz t ǎr naśnl lîf z an admṛbl claṛti – ɖo phps nt in ɖ we ś intndz.

Ɖ Cnsrṿtivz hv bn in pǎr fr mor ɖn 12 yirz, n fr mć v ɖt tîm ɖe hv bn hard t pin dǎn. Devid Camṛn wz ilectd az a cmpaśṇt Cnsrṿtiv, ol husciz n hŭdiz n “ɖ big ssayti”. In riaḷti, h impozd a pirịd v osteṛti ɖt hit ɖ purist hardist, starvd cḿṇtiz v ćeriśt srṿsz n left cǎntlis nebrhdz nglectd n deṛlict. Fṛm wn sîd v hiz mǎʈ, Camṛn’z ćanslr, Jorj Ozbōrn, sd, “W’re ol in ɖs tgɖr”; fṛm ɖ uɖr, h pitd “strîvrz” agnst “scîvrz”.

T’rīza Me cem nxt, proṃsñ t tacl “brnñ injusṭsz” n redietñ snṣbl midl Ñgḷnd dīsnsi. In riaḷti, ś hd t cīp p wɖ a parti hot wɖ Brexit fīvr, cnsymd bî a project ɖt got pṛgresivli mor xtrim. Ɖ contṛdix́nz incrist n ɖ opaṣti ʈicnd wɖ Boris Jonsn, a libtīn cntmtẏs v ɖ standdz v prsnl conduct hiz parti wns hld dir; a Tori wɖ a põśõ fr big spendñ, ɖ bulc v it tarġtd, h promist, at ɖ parts v ɖ cuntri ɖt nīdd it most. A “Brex̣ti Heza” h wns cōld himslf, nodñ t Mîcl Hesltîn’z s’port fr an acṭvist stet, īvn az h trampld on ɖ formr depyti PM’z dvośn t ɖ Yṛpiyn îdiyl.

Ol v ɖs mnt ɖt fr mor ɖn a deced Cnsrṿtizm wz a śiftñ targit, its reṭric n its ax́n ofn d’recli at odz. Bt nǎ ɖr’z Trus, huz gret gift t Britn z a bresñ lac v amḅgywti. Wɖ no dstractñ vnir v compitns, dīsnsi or cmpaśn – îɖr riyl or boġs – ś ofrz instd a necidli îdịlojicl form v cnsrṿtizm.

Its instñts r unhidn. It fevrz ɖ rić ovr ɖ pur. Witnis bʈ Qāzi Qarteñ’z nǎ-abandnd jūsi taxcut t ɖ 1% n Trus’z cntinywñ rfyzl t plej ɖt beṇfits wl cīp pes wɖ a gaḷpñ ret v infleśn: f ɖe d’nt, ɖ nīdiist wl hv t gt bî on īvn les.

It yrnz fr a smōl stet, wn ɖt z līn in sîz n mīn in practis. Trus’z guvnmntl miniṃlizm z so unbndñ, ś vītoud a £15m public-inḟmeśn campen ɖt wd hv hlpt Brítnz rdys ɖer eṇjicnsumśn, ɖr-bî lowrñ ɖer bilz n hlpñ ɖ planit. Trus ʈt ɖt smact tù mć v ɖ hand v nani, īvn ɖo Jecb Rīs-Mog – a man hu nz mor ɖn z hlʈi abt naniz – hd apruvd ɖ plan. N so ɖ Naśnl Grid z bresñ s fr a wintr v disc̣nct, wɖ śort dez n loñ pǎrcuts – a ʈrǒbac t ɖ 1970z az vivid az wn v ɖoz Ćanl 5 clipcomṗleśn śoz ɖt w cd woć f onli w wr’nt sitñ in ɖ darc.

Ɖs z a necid cnsrṿtizm ɖt b’livz in itslf wɖ sć frvr it ʈncs facts śd mc we fr its fanṭsiz. Borowñ fr taxcuts in a pirịd v srjñ infleśn wz olwz gwñ t spūc ɖ marcits, bt Trus’z feʈ tld hr uɖ̇wz. Ś wz dtrmind t jump of ɖ clif, insistnt ɖt ol ɖ tōc v graṿti wz so mć stufi sạntific “orʈ̇doxi”.

Ɖ rfyzl t bǎ t impiricl evidns, t riaḷti, z Trus cnsrṿtizm’z dfînñ fīćr. Its oṛjinz r nt mstirịs. W mt cōl it Brex̣tizm: ɖ crīd ɖt holdz ɖt ɖ riyl wrld, īvn ɖ facts v jiogṛfi, cn b bnt t yr wl, jst bî clozñ yr îz n wśñ it wr so. Az ɖ FT coḷmnist Martin Wlf pts it: “Trus dz nt hv a groʈplan. Ś hz a ‘groʈplan’ – a majicl pośn intu ẃć ś sprinclz ɖ rvrsl v rīsnt tax incrisz, frīdm fr bancrz’ boṇsz n lowr taxz fr ɖ prospṛs, sz ‘abṛc̣dabra’ n sudnli trend prodctivtigroʈ qodṛplz.”

D’nt b msléd bî ɖ sirịl U-trnz, olrdi a sigṇćr v ɖ Trus ira. It’s tru ɖt ś promist ɖr wd b no eṇjiraṣ́nñ, n nǎ w’r set t fes ɖ crūdist form v raṣ́nñ, nemli blacǎts. Tru, tù, ɖt ś sd ɖr wd b no “handǎts”, īvn ɖo hr frst wīc in ofis sw hr bǎ t riaḷti n hand ǎt hlp on eṇjibilz, olbiit hlp peid fr bî ǎr ǒn fyćr taxz rɖr ɖn bî a levi on ɖ garganćụn xes profits v ɖ eṇji jaynts. N yes, ś abandnd ɖ aḅliśn v ɖ 45p taxret, bérli 24 aurz aftr ś’d sd ś wd stic wɖ it. Bt ɖoz rvrsz d nt sjst dctrînl cmplex̣ti, stl les straṭji. Ɖ onli stori ɖe tel z wn v wìcnis n heṃrijñ s’port.

Fr necid cnsrṿtizm z unpaḷtbl īvn t Cnsrṿtivz. Ɖs wīc, wn Nedīn Doriz akzd Trus v “lrćñ t ɖ rît”, adñ ɖt a de facto cut in beṇfits wz “cruwl”. V cors, ɖ hipocṛsi z ranc: Doriz’ aidl, Jonsn, cut yṇvrsl credit n wd hv dnaid fri scūlmīlz t hungri ćildṛn hd it nt bn fr Marc̣s Raśfd. Bt ẃn y’v got bʈ Rīs-Mog n Doriz – ɖ Sid n Nansi v ɖ Tori hard rît – t yr left, y nǒ y’v streid far fṛm īvn ɖ wîldist śorz.

Ɖs stripñ awe v ɖ caṃflāź, ɖs xpoźr v ɖ Tōriz’ hardist cor, ofrz wn uɖr conṣleśn bsdz claṛti. It cariz wɖ it ɖ sns v an endñ. Fr ɖs z hǎ bad guvnmnts ofn dî, ɖ masc fōḷn awe, ɖer wrst fes rvild. Trus wl trî t rali ɖ trūps, stŕñ ɖm wɖ ɖ fmiłr het – īvn f “rmenr ilīts” n “sitiznz v nẃr” r nǎ rībrandd az ɖ rɖr les punći “anti-groʈ cọliśn”. Bt ś c’nt iscep ɖ tmpr v ɖ tîmz, ẃć hz trnd agnst hr n hr parti.

Fr mor ɖn a deced, ɖ cuntri hz bn rūld bî ɖoz hu hv cōzd grev damij n gret hrt. Ofn ɖt wz cnsild bî smuɖ tōc, a ćarmñ manr or wîld proṃsz. Liz Trus z nt blest wɖ sm v hr prīdisesrz’ gifts fr dspśn. Instd hr xtrimizm z xpozd fr ol t si. It mīnz w cn si hr – n ol ɖ rotņis ɖt lîz bnʈ.

Instroduction to Ñspel

08/10/2022

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