Tory MP Appears To Compare Truss Premiership To A Dumpster Fire

A Tory MP has appeared to compare Liz Truss’s time as prime minister to a dumpster fire that needs to be extinguished.

Robert Largan used the less-than-subtle metaphor in a column for a local news website in his High Peak constituency.

It came as Truss comes under mounting pressure from Tory MPs and members just six weeks since taking over as PM.

Writing for the Glossop Chronicle, he said he had previously warned about the threat of war in Ukraine and the state of the economy.

“The subject of this week’s column, however, concerns warning about another important and oft overlooked phenomenon: dumpster fires,” he wrote.

In what appeared to be a clear message to his colleagues about the need to remove Truss, Largan said: “Without action, dumpster fires can rage on for long periods of time, spreading quickly and causing major structural damage.

“For some, watching these fires rage elicits a grim fascination and the chance to speculate about just how long it will continue to burn.”

The MP said “extinguishing a dumpster fire is risky business and likely to be messy”, which leads some people to conclude “that it is better to just let the fire eventually burn itself out”.

But he added: “The longer the fire is left to rage, the greater the danger to the integrity of the skip, as the metal starts to warp and twist out of shape, beyond all recognition, eventually becoming completely unusable.”

Largan went on: “I firmly believe that we need to tackle dumpster fires when they occur, regardless of how messy or unappealing this may be.

“Indeed, the act of extinguishing the flames could well be the end of the skip they originated in. But urgent action is necessary nevertheless.”

Although he made no direct reference to the PM in his article, his remarks have been widely interpreted as an attack on her troubled premiership and the need for her to be replaced.

Five Tory MPs have publicly called for Truss to quit in the wake of the economic chaos caused by the disastrous mini-budget.

That led to the sacking of her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and his replacement, Jeremy Hunt, scrapping virtually all of her economic policies.

The prime minister last night admitted she had made “mistakes” during her brief time in office, but insisted she would still lead the Conservatives into the next election.