Liz Truss’s energy price cap ‘handout’ will put her talent for U-turns to the test

Faced with hard reality of looming energy bill crisis, new PM will backtrack on ideological vows within days of taking office

Liz Truss is not the first Conservative prime minister to see her carefully cultivated self-image quickly clash with political reality.

Boris Johnson was the prime minister who compared himself to the reckless mayor in Jaws who kept the beaches open despite shark attacks - but then had to order the British population to lock themselves up at home during the Covid pandemic.