Eleven days. That is how long it took for Liz TrussThe Conservative prime minister of the United Kingdom from September to October 2022. and her chancellor, Kwasi KwartengA British Conservative politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under Liz Truss from September to October 2022., to abandon the flagship policy of their mini-budget: a tax cut for the highest earners.¹

Truss insists that the policy had to be dropped because it was a "distraction". Kwarteng claimed it proved they had "listened". But for most observers, it is a sign that the pair are mortally wounded. Many predict that they will not survive to fight the next election.

In some ways this is quite strange. If a majority of the country is opposed to a policy, is it not right for the government to listen to them and reconsider? Is that not what democracy is all about?

The fact is that in UK politics, there is an almost mythical reverence attached to those politicians who are willing to stick to an unpopular policy.

This is largely because of the legacy of Margaret Thatcher, who became prime minister in 1979. She introduced a new policy, known as monetarismThe belief that inflation can be controlled by tight restrictions on the supply of money. In practice, this tends to mean introducing spending cuts. , to control inflationAn increase in the price of goods in an economy. .

Inflation did come down, but the economy went into a long recessionA period of economic decline. A recession occurs when a country's Gross Domestic Product falls for six months in a row. , and unemployment shot up. Thatcher's Conservative party sank in the polls.

Amidst this chaos, at her party's annual conference in October 1980, Thatcher delivered a line that would go down in political history: "You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning!"

The gamble paid off. At the next election in 1983, Thatcher won a landslide victory. She went on to become the longest-serving prime minister in modern British history, and a hero to Conservatives.

So any Tory prime minister who U-turns on an unpopular policy cannot help but draw comparisons with the Iron Lady.² And Truss has, more than any of her predecessors, tried to liken herself to her illustrious predecessor.

But some think this is unfair. They argue a U-turn can be the strong option. It shows that a government is thoughtful and humble enough to recognise what it has got wrong.

And sometimes politicians can be rewarded for facing up to reality. In 1981, Francois MitterrandThe left-wing president of France from 1981 to 1995. was elected president of France on a left-wing platform, promising more public spending.

But after just two years, with the economy in freefall, Mitterrand changed course and abandoned his ambitious spending plans. Voters recognised that he did not have much choice and rewarded him with a second term in 1988.

Others, however, think we should not be so quick to forgive. They point out that we expect our politicians to be competent enough to judge what will and will not work. If their policies cause chaos, then they have not done their homework properly.

And they worry that if politicians can be blown off course by a little criticism, we will end up being governed by the media.

It might be that what matters most is how a government portrays its U-turn. If politicians are honest about the reasons they have been forced to change their minds, people will respect them for it. Now, some say Truss's true mistake was that she made the U-turn out of weakness, but tried to dress it up as decisiveness.

Yes: A good government has the self-confidence to listen, think and change its mind when necessary. And only a government that is in a strong position is likely to survive such a manoeuvre.

No: Good politicians do not just respond to events: they anticipate them and try to shape them. If a government is forced to change tack, this is because it has lost control of what is happening.

Or... All governments are forced to change course sometimes: we cannot foresee everything. What matters is whether they try to bluff it out, or come clean about their choice to the public.