By SA ministerial standards, Liz Truss’ past gaffes seem trivial

By South African ministerial standards – where our ministers defended the Nkandla pool as a vital fire-fighting device – the past gaffes of incoming British Prime Minister Liz Truss seem trivial.

She once remarked that barking dogs at prisons would help deter drones from dropping drugs to inmates. That generated mirth, but in her role as foreign secretary, Truss was so bellicose and abrasive to allies and enemies alike that one Twitter user said having her in that position “is like Cookie Monster being in charge of de-escalating the Cuban Missile Crisis”.

Truss has multiple domestic crises to deal with, as the soaring cost of living causes more labour unrest than in the past decade.

Energy prices – as a result of the Ukraine war – are skyrocketing at such a rate that it would make our own rapacious Eskom green with envy. And, the situation has been made worse by the negative chickens of Brexit coming home to roost.

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Truss sees herself as the heir of Margaret Thatcher’s tough, capitalist style of economics, which promises an even more favourable treatment of business, as the number of billionaires in the UK grows and the amount of tax they pay shrinks proportionately.

Perhaps her headaches at home will mean there will be little real change for the developing countries – and especially us in South Africa – in terms of British foreign policy.

Much like America, with its two dominant political parties, when it comes to foreign policy, if you scratch a Tory, you get a Labourite – and vice versa. Don’t expect, then, any easing of the current tough visa restrictions – or easing of that backlog. Or much in the way of aid, because charity, for Truss, will have to begin at home. We will still get invited to Commonwealth events and royal occasions, though…