Fake 'blue plaque' appears outside Tesco store in honour of Liz Truss lettuce
A fake blue plaque was put up outside a Tesco on the Essex border to honour the lettuce which outlasted Liz Truss' stint as Prime Minister. The plaque, which was put up last Friday (October 4), has already been taken down, reports the Daily Star.
Blue plaques are commemorative signs erected around the UK to signify a connection between a notable person and location or event - typically historical figures or cultural icons. The knock-off blue plaque erected outside the St James' Street Walthamstow Tesco is in honour of the lettuce purchased by tabloid newspaper Daily Star which lasted longer than Truss did in her role as Prime Minister.
The plaque read: "A lettuce purchased here in September 2022 lasted longer than Prime Minister Liz Truss (49 days)." A note has also been added to Google Maps, when you zoom in on the Tesco Express store, MyLondon reports.
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The Daily Star’s live-stream of the wig-wearing lettuce had the nation gripped as viewers waited to see which would last longer. Ultimately, the lettuce won the contest despite looking a little worse for wear by the end.
Truss has historically not found lettuce jokes particularly funny, after she stormed off stage at a book tour event in Beccles, Suffolk earlier this summer after a joke was made at her expense. Campaign group Led By Donkeys organised for a banner featuring a lettuce and the words 'I crashed the economy' to be unfurled behind her on stage, reports Sky News.
The plucky lettuce that beat @trussliz has been commemorated with a blue plaque outside the Tesco in #Walthamstow where it was bought.#LizTruss #LettuceLiz pic.twitter.com/ryysR2gZOl
— Spice Albert (@SpiceAlbert) October 4, 2024
The former PM took to X to address the Beccles incident: "What happened last night was not funny. 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?"
The group claimed responsibility for the book tour stunt on social media. It said: "Liz Truss is on a pro-Trump speaking tour. So we dropped a strategically-positioned remote-controlled lettuce banner."