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The sad state of UK politics


tariki

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The situation is now so surreal that I find an almost maniacal release from overdue concern. Our governing party has dug a great big deep hole for itself and really has no where to go that will not make the hole deeper. Brexit has been a disaster, is a disaster, yet the Tories have nailed themselves to the Brexit mast. The "icing on the cake" is that, looking around, there seems no calvary coming to the rescue. Brexit just cannot be mentioned in polite company. The whole country is in denial as virtually everything ceases to work. 

 

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Many countries are beginning to look more populist. Looking out for number one so to speak.

A milestone was Cameron agreeing to a referendum to shut up the Brexiters. And yet the people as a whole voted for something that made no sense and was likely to be against their own interest.  It was UK's Trump moment.

I suppose it is simply this bit of the universe unfolding.

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16 hours ago, romansh said:

I wonder if and when the electorate and population at large will recognize their role.

Hi Rom, there is always a degree of collective responsibility. But some are always more responsible than others. Then you have the parameters set by the system (what "system" we have in the UK, what with unwritten Constitutions)

Even since the very first EU Referendum when the UK went IN there have been those refusing to accept the verdict and working to overthrow it. Strident anti "forriner" tabloids just the tip of the iceberg. The 2016 Referendum itself, where less than 50% of the TOTAL electorate setting the direction of the UK for generations. Then (because of our First Past The Post electoral system) just 34% of the TOTAL electorate brought forth the "Landslide" victory of Boris Johnson and his Party, with talk of "Oven Ready Deals" and "Getting Brexit Done". Well, there was no oven ready deal and Brexit remains undone, with the NI Protocol unable to be resolved in any way that does not threaten the fragile peace between Northern and Southern Ireland.

Regular Polls now show that about 60% of the electorate recognise that Brexit was a mistake, yet there seems no real appetite to rejoin. Most seem sick of it and Brexit has become the great unmentionable in polite company.

One little known fact further clouds the whole subject of collective responsibility. The Leave Campaign was taken to court for breaking electoral laws, those passed to ensure fair elections. They were found guilty of breaking those laws and in the verdict it was said that had the Referendum not been "advisory only" then the court could have declared the result null and void. Well, work that one out. 

The farce continues and yesterday we had another resignation, this of the Home Secretary, and we still await to find out if the Tory Chief Whip resigned, was sacked, has not resigned, is out of the job or remains. Scuffles in the voting lobbies over "Fracking"!

Absurd. Meanwhile a country I love heads towards becoming a Banana Republic, the laughing stock of the world. So many good people who constantly raise millions for charity following every appeal - without any "leader" worth the name. 

 

 

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Electioneering slogans and soundbites that have not worn well.

Prior to the 2015 General Election:-

Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice - stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband.

Spoken by Dave Cameron.

 

Oh! The irony! 

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9 hours ago, tariki said:

Britain faces a simple and inescapable choice - stability and strong Government with me, or chaos with Ed Miliband.

Spoken by Dave Cameron.

Since then, May, Boris and Truss. May was dealt an impossible hand, Johnson ... what can I say. And Truss. 

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The contest progresses. My own punditry in the past has always proved woeful, but as I see it I simply cannot believe that even the current Tory party would contrive to bring back Boris Johnson.

I think that they will see that the only hope is to elect Rishi Sunak uncontested, as the only candidate with over 100 endorsements. Creating a picture of "unity".

Mr Johnson will attempt to gain the needed 100 endorsements of the Tory MP's but if/when this attempt fails he will declare himself not interested in a challenge and a supporter of Rishi Sunak "for the sake of the Party and the country".

Should he gain the 100 endorsements the final vote goes to the Tory Party Membership (who chose Liz Truss over Rishi Sunak) and polls indicate they would choose Boris Johnson!

Longer term, should Mr Sunak become PM and bring relative stability the mantra in 2025 when the next GE is due will be "let's not risk returning to the chaotic circumstances of 2023 by electing a new Government" (thus turning their own created chaos to their own advantage) And the UK electorate would in all probability buy it!

However, should Boris Johnson actually achieve being in the the final two, all bets are off. 

Watch this space. 

 

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One last post on this topic.

The Conservative Party is currently not fit to run the country and attract investment, according to a long-time supporter of the Tories.

Guy Hands, founder of the investment firm Terra Firma, says that unless Brexit is renegotiated, the UK economy is "frankly doomed".

He warned of increased taxes, reduced benefits, higher interest rates and "eventually a bailout from the IMF [International Monetary Fund]" unless the next leader of the party has the "intellectual capability and authority" to work out a revised Brexit deal.

Hands told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Quote Message: I think [the Tory Party] has got to move on from fighting its own internal wars and actually focus on what needs to be done in the economy and admitting some of the mistakes they've made in the last six years which have frankly put this country on a path to be the sick man of Europe." 
Guy Hands - Investor

Relate this to the triumph of Boris Johnson at the last GE, winning with the mantra of an "oven ready deal" and "getting Brexit done". A landslide victory with the votes of 34% of the total electorate. Relate it to those who had suggested that Mr Johnson still has "the mandate" of the country, having "delivered" on his pledges.

Relate it.........oh, forget it.

 

😐

 

Edited by tariki
Correction to quote
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1 hour ago, PaulS said:

I must admit I know very little about the players in UK politics.  Do you have any hope for Rishi Sunak leading the country?

To be honest I just have little hope. Irrespective of PM or Party. More anti-Tory than being positive about anything else. My hope rests more with common or garden individuals facing their various trials and tribulations and coming up smiling.

 

Mr Sunak is new to politics, first elected MP via a very safe Tory seat in 2015. Maybe the fact that he is a multi-millionaire swayed the choice of the local Conservative Party. He supported Brexit. As Chancellor, irrespective of his "core values" he in fact raised taxes and was found guilty of breaking the very same Covid restrictions as Boris Johnson.

 

He has four homes, one a large mansion, and I expect him to be able to keep his swimming pool warm at a cost of £14,000 a year, in contrast to many of our pensioners who are now fearing the winter cold given the energy price rises. 

His wife, a billionaire, claimed "non-dom" status in the UK and thus avoided paying tax - this until it was exposed. 

But he claims to "understand" the cost of living crisis, but shows no sign of acknowledging his own part, and that of his Party, in creating it. It is a constant mantra of "global problems".

 

The general prediction is that another round of "austerity" and public spending cuts are ahead. But many are already at the end of the line.

 

Personally I am OK. We have known it hard in the past but now fortunately can help our daughter manage. She is a Care Worker, low paid. At least the Tories have taken away the cap on bonuses for bankers (one of the few things not reversed from the Truss "era")

 

Happy days.

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