Know Liz Truss, the Prime Minister of Britain
Liz Truss is very annoyed with the ‘ lack of depth’ of present British curricula, particularly the soft underbelly of the study of mathematics in Britain.
By Amitava Mukherjee
What is the similarity between Joseph Stalin, the Soviet strongman and Elizabeth Truss, the next Prime Minister of Britain? The comparison may seem hilarious. But believe me, there is a similarity. Both have likings for serious and classical studies. During the stewardship of Stalin in Soviet Union millions of copies of classic Russian literature were printed and pressed into the hands of the young generation. Similarly Liz Truss is also very annoyed with the ‘ lack of depth’ of present British curricula, particularly the soft underbelly of the study of mathematics in Britain.
But the similarity ends here. Throughout his life Stalin had followed a particular political ideology and never wavered from it.. Liz Truss has records of political somersault. She was once a dedicated supporter of the Liberal Democratic Party of Britain and in her salad days had even participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations. However that did not deter her from taking a 180 degree turnaround and embrace Conservative ideology. This had caused deep cleavage even in her family. Although she could convince her mother to participate in her electioneering, her father, a mathematics professor in Leeds, Yorkshire, had refused to have anything in it.
In short Liz Truss is a case of contradiction and confusion.
She is an environmentalist and declares: “I was an environmentalist before it was fashionable. I was a teenage eco-warrior campaigning against damage to the ozone layer”. But she plans to sanction more than 100 oil and gas drilling licences for exploration in the North Sea for ensuring Britain’s energy security, becoming quite oblivious of the fact that this may cause incalculable damage to the ocean life.. Then she is reported in the media to be prepared for fracking, a mechanism for lifting of shell oil which causes great pollution in the atmosphere.
Britain no doubt needs energy security in the wake of the Ukraine war.. But there could be other avenues for it. Then Liz Truss plans to scrap a rule that requires developers to detail in their proposals the likely pollution that their projects might cause to rivers and wetlands.
Britain is now in the midst of a severe economic crisis and inflation. But Truss is yet to come out with any comprehensive strategy to counter it except for her oft repeated policy of tax cuts. Obviously she plans to throw more money into the hands of the privileged class which is quite in tune with her free market policy convictions. Possibly through it she intends to create demands in the market and revive sagging manufacturing sector of her country. But without any well thought out back up policy to contain inflation, this may lead to havoc in the financial sector.
But one thing is certain. Britain is going to adopt harder attitudes towards Russia and China, particularly against the former in relation to the Ukraine war. Truss will also try to draw Britain out of its dependence on Russia and China in different sectors. She considers Britain a vital component of the NATO is sure to try to outshine Germany in the political and economic arena of Europe.
