Liz Truss just accidentally invented the EU

Liz Truss has called for an economic union of countries to build a supply chain for resources and the concept rings a bell.

In an interview with Nikkei Asia, the politician best known for her brief and disastrous stint as prime minister last summer called for what she described as an "economic Nato" and in response, people said her concept sounded like the EU.

On a visit to Japan to attend a meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Group on China Policy, she mooted the idea in response to threats she perceives from China.

She said: "I believe that we as the free world are facing a serious challenge from authoritarian regimes, particularly from China," she said in Tokyo.

An economic version of something similar to NATO that centered on the G-7, included a different mix of countries inside and outside the bloc such as Australia, was needed to counter China's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, Truss said.

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"I want to see the G-7 acting as an economic NATO to make sure we are not allowing freedom and democracy to be undermined by China's economic policies," she added.

"We need to use our economic leverage to make the escalation of the situation a strategic mistake," she said. "We need to use our economic leverage to make sure that we are building economic relations with Taiwan at the same time as being clear with China that any escalation would be a strategic mistake and have consequences."

Here's what people made of her stroke of genius:

During the EU Referendum debate, Truss was a Remainer who came around to Brexit when she served in Boris Johnson's cabinet.

Look like she's coming round to some sort of union once again.

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