‘The West is weak’: Former UK prime minister Liz Truss slams Western leaders, claims ‘red mist of socialism’ descending

Former UK prime minister Liz Truss has taken a swipe at Anthony Albanese during a broadside at a major Australian political action conference, saying the West is “weak”. Ms Truss – who served as the UK’s PM for just 49 days before her resignation – delivered a broadside about the “red mist of socialism” across the Western world in her speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Brisbane. She was billed as one of the conference’s major speakers, alongside the likes of former Australian deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce and Liberal senator Alex Antic, among other Coalition and conservative heavyweights. Ms Truss took a swipe at prime ministers across the world as she asserted the West was “weak” because of the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. We’ve got (Joe) Biden in the White House, or kind of in the White House,” she said to laughter. We’ve got (Justin) Trudeau in Canada, we’ve got (Anthony) Albanese here in Australia. “And the last and worst: Keir Starmer was elected in Britain. “And what does this mean? Well, it means the West is weak and we can see that by what is happening at the moment in the Middle East.” Ms Truss said these governments were not backing Israel, which she called “the sole democracy in the region”, and were instead “appeasing” Iran. She claimed Iran was close to being able to gain a nuclear weapon as a result of the extra funds it was being given. Ms Truss also spoke of increasing aggression from Russia and China before accusing Western leaders of having “weak economies”. She claimed it was due to net zero and “printing too much money”. “(It’s also) due to wokeism and DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), which is forcing companies to focus not on making profits and generating jobs, but instead ticking diversity targets,” she claimed. Ms Truss also defended her brief time in office as prime minister, claiming it was “impossible” for her to deliver conservative policies within “the current makeup of our bureaucracy”. She claimed her “mini-budget” which was highly divisive was “undermined” by Britain’s economic establishment. “When you have civil servants who are actively briefing against the government, when you have outsourced bodies like the Bank of England who are pursuing modern monetary policy, not proper control of the money supply, it is not possible to deliver as conservatives,” she said. “We need to be prepared to dismantle the left-wing democracy … defend state media,” she continued, referencing the BBC and ABC. Ms Truss lasted less than seven weeks in office before resigning in the fallout from her government’s 2022 mini-budget. In a humorous twist, the British tabloid The Daily Star livestreamed a head of lettuce that same year to see if it wilted before her leadership ended – the lettuce ultimately being declared the winner. In August, Ms Truss was mocked at a book promotion when the campaign group Led By Donkeys lowered a remote-controlled banner with a picture of the lettuce emblazoned with the phrase “I crashed the economy”. Ms Truss also lost her seat of South West Norfolk during the UK election earlier this year. CPAC is set to continue through the afternoon and into Sunday. NSW Libertarian Party MLC John Ruddick and ousted LNP Senator Gerard Rennick are among the speakers over Sunday.