liz truss x priti patel: the complete story

9. May-June 2020

It was the second week of May, and despite minor easing of the rules, lockdown persisted. Priti saw the small changes as a sign of hope that things would soon return to normal, but Liz was unconvinced. It had been over a month, and all they'd done is reopen the garden centres? She was itching to get out the house, so much so that she'd even taken up running as a mere excuse to leave.

Her misery appeared to seep into everything she did. Even her phone calls to Priti, though still the best part of her life, took a more solemn tone. But when she received an email, she saw a potential escape.

"You are invited to socially distanced drinks in the No 10 garden this evening." She read aloud to Priti through the phone.

"What?" Priti asked, astounded. "But that's completely against the rules! Are you sure it's not fake?"

"Definitely not, it's from my contacts."

"I didn't get an email."

"Really? That's strange. Well, you can come with me if you want?"

"You can't be serious, Liz! You're really thinking about going? It's completely illegal!"

"But I- I can't stay in the house any longer. I just want to go back to work again, and I need to see you. This would be the perfect place. No one would catch us, they wouldn't suspect a thing."

"You're talking like a criminal, Liz." Priti said quietly, unnerved.

"Why won't you even consider it?"

"Liz, I'm the Home Secretary, I'm the one that ordered the police to break up things like this, the one that encouraged people to call the police on their neighbours if they caught them. We're not above the rules, and it would be bad for us to act like it. And anyway, I'm already under investigation. You know I'm being careful." Her tone was harsh.

"Do you not want to see me?" Liz said, suddenly emotional, though she knew that that is not what Priti meant.

"You know I want to see you, more than anything, but we have to wait." She paused, but Liz was silent. "You're not going to go are you Liz? Please, these things always come out. It'll just be a problem for the future."

"Okay. I'm not going to go, don't worry." She sighed sadly.

"Good. Just delete the email, and we can pretend we never knew about this."

Liz hung up the phone, as Priti sat dazed and in disbelief.

In the coming days, their contact halted. The interaction had produced a kind of awkwardness between them. Priti was alarmed that Liz would suggest such a thing. She lay awake that night, staring at the ceiling in a mixture of rage and horror at her government. She'd been proved twice now that one didn't get away with anything, and she knew they wouldn't be lucky enough to get away with this. Liz, on the other hand, was conflicted. She felt guilty and embarrassed that she'd even considered it, but a part of her was irritated that Priti had said no, and hadn't considered how much she needed that.

***

Boris sat in his office calling Dominic. An investigation had been released, revealing the trip he'd made to Durham, and the public were furious. 'It's one rule for them, and another for us' echoed across social media, as opinion polling saw support for the party fall. Had he not have heard it from Dominic himself, Boris would've concluded it was 'more fake news from the Guardian'. Though, he supposed, he could still claim this in public.

"Well- I say, just ignore it and move on. No one's cared about civil servants since Alistair Campbell, they'll move on soon enough. You know what those lefties are like, give it 48 hours and they'll have found another innocent person to cancel."