'Puerile': Liz Truss says Daily Star lettuce livestream not 'particularly funny'
Liz Truss has described a tabloid paper's livestream of a lettuce, set up to see whether the vegetable would last longer than the ex-PM's tenure, as not “particularly funny” and “puerile”.
Ms Truss criticised the Daily Star's stunt, which involved dressing up a lettuce in a blonde wig and playing out coverage to millions of people.
It became a viral sensation and lasted longer than Ms Truss' 49-day tenure as prime minister.
Speaking at a media conference in Dublin on Monday, Ms Truss criticised some elements of the media as "froth" and also said that comparisons between her style with Margaret Thatcher's is "lazy thinking".
She said female politicians are often compared to one another because "there aren't that many of us".
"I just think, frankly, it's lazy thinking on people's part. It's not something I have ever consciously sought to do at all," she said.
The backbench MP continued to criticise the media, and said following politicians around "shouting things at them is not really journalism".
"I think that the British media are known throughout the world for being particularly vociferous and I don't think they are particularly deferential to politicians," she said.
"It's frustrating because I came into politics because I wanted to change the country, I want to push particular ideas, and it is frustrating when you get diverted onto a discussion of what hat you're wearing, or whether you like photographs, all this other stuff, rather than one of the crucial issues that are affecting Britain, Europe, Ireland and the US.
"I do think sometimes politics is sort of treated as a branch of the entertainment industry. Who's up, who's down, who says what about who - it's a bit playground when there are really serious issues going on."
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