November 9th, 2022 / Leave Feedback / nezuppal
Wow. It has been a long time since I last posted an article. I’d like to say that I haven’t written on this blog for a long time as my last article came just after the news that the Queen had passed away and I wanted to show respect. But to be honest, politics has been moving so fast around me that I have barely been able to keep up.
So let me just start again by paying my respects to the greatest monarch in British history – certainly a debateable comment but that’s what this blog is supposed to be all about. Isn’t it?
And a brief note to follow on from that, before we get on to what I will now term the “Wild Westminster” (not great, I know, but Wild West … anyone?), is that we have all been given an extra bank holiday for King Charles’ coronation. Literally everyone I’ve spoken to about this is so happy to get an extra bank holiday, who wouldn’t be, but no one has mentioned anything about King Charles at all. Personally, I hope he acts like his mother and stays out of political situations. But I’m not holding my breath. But in my previous article I said that the monarchy died with the Queen and whilst it has not actually “died”, we are not French after all where a good revolution is always on the cards, but I sense that a lot of people simply to do not care about the monarchy or their business anymore.
Anyway, onto the madness of the Wild Wild Westminster. My last article, to the day was when Liz Truss was still Prime Minister. As mentioned before on this blog, I knew she would be incompetent, but even I could not predict a failing on this level. Yes, the lettuce thing was very funny. Yes, she was the shortest serving Prime Minister in British history. But seriously, the only reason she won was because the Tory membership felt that Rishi stabbed Boris in the back. That’s it. They did not consider her complete lack of political knowledge, economics, or common sense.
Instantly, with the release of her mini budget on the 23rd of September, there was a public outcry and complete confusion within Westminster. What was going on? The budget was nothing short of a calamity. Throughout the debates the main issue, on my mind and the mind of many I suppose was the economy and cost of living crisis which we are all now facing. Whilst I am no fan of Rishi Sunak, during these debates he showed that he, at the very least, had the political and economic nous which Liz Truss was clearly lacking. When repeatedly asked whether she would cut public spending or raise taxes, she “umm’d” and “arrr’d” about it, refusing to give a straightforward answer.
Following this she then decided to boldly claim that she would do neither. Continuing with high public spending whilst aiming to reduce taxation. Now, you do not have to be a genius, or even clever, to know that public spending comes from taxation. If you want high public spending, you need high taxation. If you want low taxation, then you must cut public spending. It is as simple as that. But Liz Truss still could not grasp this very basic principle. Shocking.
But alas, she did not “stab King Boris” in the back. Therefore, the Tory members proudly elected her in and what happened? The pound collapsed. It didn’t dip, it didn’t drop slightly. It collapsed. Her mini-budget was just a sign of pure ignorance on the part of Truss and her best-mate (not anymore, I imagine) Kwasi Kwarteng. As she suddenly noticed what an absolute disaster this was, she, like many other Tory leaders before her, instantly sacked a close friend and colleague and tried to place the blame on him. Yes, it was his fault and they are both clueless as each other. But I suppose there is no loyalty amongst thieves.
Her decision to then bring Jeremy Hunt into the fold was also a calamitous choice as he began to tear apart this shambles of a budget. An awful choice by Liz Truss, is that three in a row now (?), but even this served to undermine her position further.
It was on the 6th of September that Liz Truss took over from Boris. She lasted 44 days. Obviously, following that Rishi Sunak became the first Prime Minister of Indian descent. To be honest, it is actually amazing to consider that we now have an Indian Prime Minister if one were to look back on the treatment of India by the British empire. But that’s another article for another time.
So that’s not 3 Prime Minister’s in as many months. And what I find personally annoying is that there is absolutely no shame amongst these ministers. The Conservative Party has been in power for 12 years now. 12 years, with a strong majority is enough time to do a lot of good for the country and if you read my article on Tony Blair, you will understand what can be achieved in this time. But instead, we now face a housing crisis, ANOTHER criminal Prime Minister, a cost-of-living crisis, and the Bank of England has now recently announced that Britain is officially in a recession and has predicted that it will be the longest in British history. Many of you may remember the aftermath of the 2008/2009 financial crisis caused by the housing market in the United States. This is not only a continuation of that but could well end up being even more damaging.
Boris, then Liz Truss and now Rishi Sunak. Dear God. And with Rishi now facing allegations of bullying within the workplace relating to Gavin Williamson’s text messages to Penny Mordaunt (article soon to follow) he is under intense pressure as well. He claims he did not know about the texts, but there’s something about these Tory Prime Minister’s that makes me think they are lying. They are always lying. They have always lied. And whilst, perhaps, he did not know the exact details of the texts, although I find that hard to believe, he was made aware that this man was a bully and not suitable for a Ministerial position.
Now we have Tory MPs, unsure of what to do or how to tie a pair of shoelaces, claiming that “this is in the past” and that it was a “one-off” incident. The text messages lasted for two days and used vulgar, disgusting language and threats. I am no fan of Penny Mordaunt, don’t mistake me, but bullying in the workplace is just unacceptable. This was unacceptable. The Tory party is unacceptable.
Prime Minister after Prime Minister after Prime Minister. And now it turns out that Boris did have the backing of 102 Tory MPs to allow him to stand for the leadership again. Just let that sink in. After all that Boris has put the country through, all of the scandals, crises, and utter shambles. And the Tory MPs still want him back. I sometimes feel like I’m the only person in the world who sees this as an utter disaster. What are they thinking?
What good can come from re-electing Boris. But as I mentioned in article a long time ago. Boris is not done with politics. He hasn’t sailed off into the sunset. However, that brings me back to the title of this article (sorry that I have been going round the houses but it has been a long time since I posted and I needed to vent. There will be additional, shorter, and more readable articles to follow, I promise). Why would anyone take the job?
At work we were asking each other if we would take the job, a few people said yes but with ridiculous ideas. I would personally take the job just so I could dissolve Parliament and call a re-election. Nevertheless, Boris is no fool. He plays the fool. He had enough votes to stand for the leadership again. And I believe that before the next General Election he will still be about, like a foul stench. But why would he take the job? He “delivered” on Brexit and left whilst still enormously popular with the Tory membership. Why would he want to lead the Party into the next election where surely, they must lose?
He’s too smart to take the job. Much like Trump, with the blonde floppy hair, the ignorance, arrogance, and self-entitlement, he also cannot stand to lose. If he were to take the leadership position, I honestly do believe that the Tory party would do reasonably well in the next election. But that’s not to say they would win. And Boris is not concerned with how the Tory party look, he’s not concerned about the cost-of-living crisis, the war in Ukraine, Brexit, or you. Boris is concerned about Boris. And his legacy. Nothing more.
There is a saying in British politics that the Labour Party don’t win elections, the Tory Party lose them. Think back to Thatcher and John Major. Together they were in power for 18 years and in that time, they had, arguably, created more division and economic crises than we are faced with even now. And they lost to Tony Blair in 1997. I believe they will lose to Starmer in the next election. But read that again. I am not saying that Starmer will “win it for Labour” – I just believe the Tories will lose. What a sorry state of affairs.
Boris Johnson, much like his chum David Cameron who called for the disastrous Brexit referendum and then immediately cut and run, is not interested in the country’s well-being. They are both only concerned about themselves. Liz Truss then taking over and destroying the pound, her own career and launching us further into a deep recession. She did not care about the well-being of the country or the poor. She just wanted to be Prime Minister. And now Rishi Sunak, a Prime Minister who is certainly competent when it comes to political knowledge. But there is only so much he can do. He is despised by a large portion of the Tory membership because he betrayed Boris. He is despised by most of the country for the current financial situation we are stuck with. He is despised by Boris.
Why do these people want the Prime Minister job? It’s a lose-lose situation, surely. How arrogant and un-self-aware do you have to be to want to take on this position? Well, we’re finding out.
No doubt by the time I post this article there will be more news about another Prime Minister but for now, I just cannot believe what is happening to British politics.
It is shocking.
Ignorantly Ignorant 