Liz Truss storms off stage as 'I crashed the economy' banner featuring a lettuce unfurled behind her

By Lettice Bromovsky 11:10 14 Aug 2024, updated 15:41 14 Aug 2024

Liz Truss stormed off stage last night after pranksters humiliated her while on tour to promote her book '10 Years To Save The West'.

The former PM had been mid-sentence at Beccles public hall in Suffolk, dissecting why Donald Trump will win the next presidential election, when a banner was unveiled behind her and sent the crowd into fits of laughter. 

It read: 'I crashed the economy' alongside a picture of a lettuce.

An attendant swiftly came out and alerted Truss, while the host stammered 'I don't know what is going on', before the irritated 49-year-old stormed off stage, saying 'that is not funny.' 

The cringeworthy clip, which has amassed a massive 2.9million views, was published on X by campaign group Led By Donkeys, who claimed responsibility for the incident.

It captioned the video: 'Liz Truss is on a pro-Trump speaking tour. So we dropped a strategically-positioned remote-controlled lettuce banner.'

The stunt was in reference to a lettuce outlasting Truss' time in office in a challenge created by the Daily Star.

She was saying: 'I support Trump and I want him to win... But the, it's what I was saying about incumbents, I think the average American is not doing well,' as the banner unfurled. 

Ben Stewart, co-founder of Led By Donkeys, who attended the event on Tuesday, claimed: 'This is all about Liz Truss aligning herself with Trump and the far right in America.'

He added: 'She's avidly supporting Trump, and actually she's lending the weight of the office of British Prime Minister which she held, albeit for a short period of time, to the pro-Trump campaign.

'We thought, she's aligning herself with the far right in America, and sometimes, not always, but sometimes, one of the best approaches to the far right is to laugh at them.

'And so we decided to install this strategically positioned remote control lettuce banner and press the button towards the end of last night's event.'

Ms Truss served as prime minister of the UK for just 49 days in 2022, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history. 

Her brief tenure was marred by economic turmoil – including reforms that sent the pound tumbling – before a Conservative MP rebellion ousted her from No 10.

She has claimed her premiership was halted due to 'deep state' actors which includes Treasury officials, the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Bank of England.

Since then the 49-year-old has taken her political insights across the pond, and has become much more involved in American politics. 

As she endorsed Trump for President in April, claiming 'the world was safer' with him in the White House. 

Earlier this year, the group used a remote controlled banner with a picture of the Russian president on to disrupt a speech by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.

It read: 'I heart Nigel.'

Ms Truss and her team said they would not be commenting on the stunt.