A lettuce-themed banner prank at an event Liz Truss was speaking at was “not funny”, according to the former prime minister, who also accused “far-left activists” who unfurled it of attempting to “suppress” free speech.
She earlier stormed off stage after a banner featuring a lettuce and the words “I crashed the economy” unfurled behind her at an event.
Ms Truss initially did not comment on the stunt, but on Wednesday posted a response on the X social media platform.
“What happened last night was not funny,” she wrote.
“Far-left activists disrupted the event, which then had to be stopped for security reasons. This is done to intimidate people and suppress free speech. I won’t stand for it.
“Would we see the same reaction if the activists were far-right?”
Truss storms off stage
The former prime minister was taking questions from an audience in Beccles, Suffolk, as part of her book tour on Tuesday evening when campaign group Led By Donkeys carried out the stunt.
She was saying how she thought Donald Trump would probably win the US election as “the average American is not doing well” when a banner came down from the ceiling behind her.
The vegetable pictured was a reference to a lettuce the Daily Star live-streamed, to see if it wilted before her premiership in 2022 ended.
After Ms Truss resigned just 49 days into the job, the newspaper declared the lettuce victorious.
The banner’s economy-related tagline was a reference to her agenda of tax cuts and spending that plunged the UK economy into crisis.
Ms Truss, who lost her South West Norfolk seat in the July election, initially did not notice the banner.
However, when she was alerted to it and a few people started laughing, she looked unimpressed and said: “That’s not funny.”
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She then gathered up her notes, took her microphone off and walked off the stage.
There was a small smattering of applause as she left.
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Liz Truss after losing her Norfolk South West seat to the Labour Party in July. Pic: PA
Led By Donkeys claimed credit for the stunt, as the group posted a video of it to social media.
It said: “Liz Truss is on a pro-Trump speaking tour. So we dropped a strategically positioned remote controlled lettuce banner.”
Earlier this year, the group used a remote-controlled banner with a picture of the Russian president to disrupt a speech by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
It read: “I heart Putin.”
