Time and again the Tories’ ship of fools takes us for … fools | John Crace

From Liz and Kamikwazi to Rish! on NHS pay, it's more Britannia unhinged than unchained

We need to talk about Liz. It's been the best part of five months since Liz Truss was turfed out of office and she still hasn't recovered from the shame. Imagine being considered an even bigger liability than Boris Johnson by the Tory party. Truss's public performances have been limited to a single appearance in the Commons during which she made a short speech supporting Ukraine. She seemed to imagine she was uppermost in President Zelenskiy's thoughts most days. It's doubtful he has any idea who she is.

Liz also made a 4,000-word intervention - part confessional, part cry for help - in the Daily Telegraph. A howl of pain from someone desperate for relevance. Most of it was just an unintelligible rant. Its main purpose seemed to be as some kind of personal catharsis. The acting out of someone on hallucinogenics. It had no meaning in itself. The meaning was all in the process. Having purged the demons, she was ready to reintroduce herself to the world. But since then ... Nothing. Nada.