Aug. 24—Liz Truss, Britain’s current Foreign Secretary and likely next Prime Minister, was questioned at a campaign event in Birmingham by host John Pienaar. The following exchange was reported by The Mirror:
Pienaar: “One of the first things that will happen when and if you become Prime Minister, you’ll be ushered into a room, a very private room at Number 10 [Downing Street], and there will be laid out in front of you what are called the letters of last resort. Your orders to our Trident boat captain on whether you, Prime Minister Liz Truss, is giving the order to unleash nuclear weapons. It would mean global annihilation. I won’t ask you if you would press the button, you’ll say yes, but faced with that task I would feel physically sick. How does that thought make you feel?”
Truss: “I think it’s an important duty of the Prime Minister and I’m ready to do that. I’m ready to do that.”
As of yesterday, Truss was 26 points ahead of her rival and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, according to Politico. Whoever wins will replace Boris Johnson as the Queen’s prime minister.
