Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has claimed that Britain could have become a major space power, with multiple missions to Mars launched from the country by 2040, if she had been allowed to continue in office. In her new book, Bank Job, Truss lays out an alternative vision for Britain, arguing that her economic plans were unfairly blamed for the turmoil that followed her controversial mini-budget in September 2022. She served as prime minister for just 49 days before resigning amid a financial crisis and growing political pressure.
The book’s final chapter, titled 2040, imagines how Britain might have developed if Truss had been given more time to implement her policies. Among her predictions is the launch of “several missions to Mars from British spaceports”, Metro reported.
However, the country still has a long way to go before such ambitions become reality. The UK has two spaceport projects, including SaxaVord in Shetland, which is designed to support vertical rocket launches. Neither has conducted a launch so far. Sending crewed missions to Mars would require far more advanced infrastructure and technology than launching small satellites into orbit.
Truss’s vision also includes plans to repeal the Equality Act, the Human Rights Act and the Climate Change Act, reflecting the sweeping changes she believes Britain should have pursued under her leadership.
Her premiership in 2022 was marked by economic turmoil after her government announced tax cuts without setting out how they would be funded. The mini-budget triggered a sharp sell-off in UK government bonds, increased borrowing costs and intensified pressure on the government. Inflation also exceeded 10% during the period.
Truss resigned in October 2022, becoming the shortest-serving prime minister in modern British history. She later lost her parliamentary seat to Labour in the 2024 general election. Since leaving office, Truss has increasingly aligned herself with right-wing populist politics and has questioned the reasons behind her downfall, often arguing that decisions by institutions such as the Bank of England played a major role.
‘Bank Job: A Short Book on How the Bank of England Broke the Bond Market and Brought Down the Government’ is her second book since leaving Downing Street. Her earlier work, ‘Ten Years to Save the West’, reflected on her political career and her views on the future of Western politics.
The establishment attacks on me are getting more and more deranged. I note they are not attacking on the basis of facts and evidence. Find out the truth in Bank Job – out TODAY. https://t.co/ZLlhZq742h
— Liz Truss (@trussliz) October 26, 2026
Her latest book has already attracted criticism from reviewers. A reviewer in The Daily Telegraph described it as “the most deranged thing I’ve ever read”, while the Financial Times criticised its central argument and compared its tone to Truss’s proposals to abolish the United Nations.
