On September 23, 2022, Liz Truss stepped down from her position as prime minister after only 44 days in office; an all-time low in UK history. Because she was in office, she has been offered a 115,000 pound allowance every year for the rest of her life (around $180,000 CAD). Many people believe that, given the current economic crisis in the UK, Truss should refuse the offer, as she didn’t do enough to warrant it.
The UK is currently experiencing an economic recession that is believed to continue into 2023. Inflation has peaked at 11%, housing prices have risen 25% in the past few years, food prices have risen alarmingly fast, and wages have failed to keep up with the cost of living. During Truss’ time in office, she had proposed to cut taxes for the wealthy. When it utterly backfired, she stepped down from her position far sooner than any of her predecessors, leaving the UK citizens to deal with the consequences.
Accepting the money with the knowledge that many people aren’t able to afford the cost of living would be incredibly insensitive and tone-deaf. As it is, around 600,000 pounds of UK citizens’ taxes are used each year to pay the previous prime ministers’ allowances, and this would just be adding on to it. That tax money could be used in many different ways that would actually aid the taxpayers rather than sitting in the pockets of already-rich bureaucrats.
Many people view Truss as undeserving of their money, as she never did anything to help the economy and didn’t stay in power long enough to justify the compensation. Being a multi-millionaire with a net worth of 8.4 million pounds, she does not need this extra 115,000 pounds each year. Giving more money to the undeserving multi-millionaires does nothing in aiding the economic crisis or in aiding the citizens and taxpayers.
