Liz Truss is preparing to take what she calls unpopular decisions but that does not mean she is about to put the squeeze on the better-off.
The prime minister is instead talking about removing the cap on bankers’ bonuses, among other things, in a policy platform that will differentiate her from the previous incumbent of Downing Street.
It is a Brexit knock-on which she says is about “delivering for the people”.
What a curious contrast as Ms Truss headed to the US yesterday after the late Queen’s funeral.
In America, President Joe Biden was on social media decrying “trickle-down economics”.
It has, he said, “never worked”.
I am sick and tired of trickle-down economics. It has never worked.
We're building an economy from the bottom up and middle out.
— President Biden (@POTUS) September 20, 2022
In Britain, the Conservative leader is taking a dramatically different view. Under her plan, people have to wait for the newly restored bonuses of people on the top floor to flow down to street level.
This juxtaposition was put under the international spotlight on the first day of “normal business” after a period of mourning for the late Queen.
Ms Truss already had an inbox buckling under the weight of big problems.
It gets bigger by the day.
Budgets, strikes, and meeting ‘foes’
A mini-budget is coming this week which is supposed to help address an economic crisis.
The PM has waited all summer to put some meat on the bones of her energy bills rescue plan. The details are still too scant for many.
We know Ms Truss is planning to fund energy bill support with more government borrowing, but not through policies such as a windfall tax.
She also faces continued problems settling strikes among angry public sector workers.
Rail workers in some areas are planning more industrial action now the government is back doing the day job.
She’s also meeting the French president – the one she publicly suggested might be a “foe”.
Then it’s back to the in-tray and the difficult task of telling a public that didn’t vote for her how bankers’ bonuses are a priority during a cost-of-living crisis.
Ms Truss won the contest and the applause of those in her party, but there will be no honeymoon period this time.
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