As Liz Truss trashes the economy, pity poor King Charles III. She's making his new fivers lose value – Vladimir McTavish

I am out doing shows in Berlin this weekend, the third time I have worked here since Brexit. Each time I visit, Germans and ex-pats alike seem utterly gobsmacked at Britain's seemingly endless desire for acts of political self-harm.

The official coin effigy of King Charles III with a new £5 Crown commemorating the life and legacy of Queen Elizabeth II (Picture: Aaron Chown/PA)

While the UK has been the laughing stock of Europe since 2016, there’s an increased level of hilarity at the sight of our current PM, a woman utterly out of her depth elected under a system which makes China look like a democracy.

Not that you have to travel outside the UK to find people who don’t think she’s up to the job. Even her own father reportedly doesn’t think she’s fit to be Prime Minister. John Truss, a retired university professor and avowed socialist, is said to have had a strained relationship with his daughter over their political differences. I’m surprised he hasn’t demanded a DNA test.

The combined blunderings of May and Johnson brought the country to the brink of disaster. It appears this current bunch of half-witted zealots are determined to finish off the job in double-quick time.

There is little doubt that when it comes to self-destruction, this government has hit the ground running.

In a little over a month since taking on the reins of power, Liz Truss has managed to tank the economy, give the opposition a 30-point lead in the polls, send the England football team plunging out of the top tier in Europe, made Michael Gove appear reasonable, and some people even have their suspicions about the Queen’s death so soon after they met.

Let’s consider the facts. The last time Elizabeth II was photographed in public, she was shaking hands with Truss. Two days later, she died. This was someone we all considered indestructible. Who lived through the Second World War, survived 70 years of marriage to the Duke of Edinburgh, and who even walked away unharmed after being thrown out of a helicopter at the start of the London Olympics. Then, just one handshake from Liz Truss and...

As the economy goes into freefall this autumn, let us all spare a thought for King Charles. OK, as one of the wealthiest people in the country, he won’t be feeling the pinch.

However, it’s difficult not to have a degree of sympathy for someone who has waited so long to achieve their destiny, namely having his face on a five-pound note. Sadly, by the time the Royal Mint gets round to printing Charles III banknotes, a fiver will probably only pay for ten minutes’ car parking on George Street.

The sad fact is that the UK is now a banana republic which doesn’t even produce bananas. And still Truss won’t countenance a second independence referendum, insisting that “the Union is like a family”. What, like your family, Liz? Where your own dad can hardly bear the sight of you?

Who knows what new shambles the UK will have stumbled into by the time I get home on Monday.

At least I’m managing to get a four-day pass out of the madhouse. With the added bonus that I’m being paid in Euros. I reckon by the time I get home, each of those Euros will be worth a King Charles fiver.