The government is self-obsessed, too busy lashing out at everyone from civil servants to a few migrants to even think about anything else. Der Spiegel:
"Food shortages, moldy apartments, a lack of medical workers: The United Kingdom is facing a perfect storm of struggle, and millions are sliding into poverty. There is little to suggest that improvement will come anytime soon."
" For the past several months, the flow of bad news has been constant, the country’s coffers are empty, public administration is ineffective and the nation’s corporations are struggling. As this winter came to an end, more than 7 million people were waiting for a doctor’s appointment, including tens of thousands of people suffering from heart disease and cancer. According to government estimates, some 650,000 legal cases are still waiting to be addressed in a court of law. And those needing a passport or driver’s license must frequently wait for several months."
Pretty bad isn't it? Living in Britain we seem to have forgotten what a well-run country looks like.
To add to our woes, one of our brand new aircraft carriers HMS Prince of Wales is in a dry dock with serious problems and is being used as a source of spare parts to keep the other one going. Someone suggested this is normal but I’m not convinced. I would bet money, we are in the position we are because of the need to keep costs down and therefore didn’t order any spare parts, or not enough anyway.
The ship broke down off Portsmouth last August while on its way to the USA, with issues around her starboard propeller, which is being replaced as part of a £25 million refit – the cost has risen by £5 million in the past month, according to The Daily Mail.
A Navy source is quoted saying: "It is one disaster after another. To lose both propellers so soon into her lifespan is ridiculous. As she's out of action, inevitably her good parts are being stripped off to support HMS Queen Elizabeth."
Whatever it is, it’s not a good advert for British shipbuilding prowess, is it?
Now, The Telegraph is reporting that France has rescued some UK citizens from the civil war in Sudan while our own services seem helpless.
"British troops on Monday landed in Port Sudan on the Red Sea to scout out a possible evacuation of UK nationals, as ministers faced accusations their efforts lagged behind European nations. France confirmed it had rescued a 'significant' number of people from European countries including the UK, while Germany said it had also ferried home Britons."
One British businessman evacuated by France said the treatment of UK citizens in Sudan had been “appalling”and he praised the French:
“The French have been absolutely incredible, amazing. I can’t thank them enough for saving my life,” the man told the BBC, asking to remain anonymous.
The Telegraph report that Sunak is working 'round the clock' to rescue British nationals and was “urgently exploring all routes for British nationals to leave Sudan”.
It is truly embarrassing.
Debate
There was a debate yesterday in Westminster Hall, in an attempt to get the government to launch an inquiry into the impact of Brexit. It follows a petition by Leeds for Europe. Needless to say there isn't going to be one.
There were many good contributions, the best from Caroline Lucas of the Green Party and Labour's Hilary Benn:
Hilary Benn, "The fundamental truth is, if you make trade with your biggest trading partner more difficult, which is what we've done. Then don't be surprised if it has an adverse effect on the British economy, at a time when we need all the growth we can get." #BrexitInquiry pic.twitter.com/v6TlunXTmx
— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) April 24, 2023
The reason the government refused can perhaps be found in Anthony Seldon's book about Johnson's time in No 10, although this particular episode occurred much earlier, on the morning of 24 June 2016 to be precise.
Cameron had lost no time in resigning after the result of the referendum was declared, doing so just after 8:00 am with Johnson watching on TV. This is what happened then:
"Johnson was finding it hard to think straight. He had been up all night watching the television at his Islington home. Only towards dawn did he realise that Vote Leave would actually win. He disappeared to bed for 20 minutes but came back and paced around in a Brazilian football shirt and misfitting shorts looking ashen-faced and distraught. 'What the hell is happening?' he kept saying. Then a pang of guilt struck him when he saw pictures of Samantha on the television looking utterly distraught. 'Oh my God. Look at Sam. God. Poor Sam.' Soon after, stopping in his tracks, a new thought struck him: 'Oh shit, we’ve got no plan. We haven’t thought about it. I didn’t think it would happen. Holy crap, what will we do?' Still muttering, he went off to write the speech he knew he would in no time have to deliver.
"Those who knew Johnson intimately say they had never seen him more frightened and dismayed than at this moment of triumph. Crowds were shouting angrily outside his house: 'People who had patted him on the back when he had been mayor were now screaming at him.' He made it out to the car and his driver shot off down the road but had to stop at a red traffic light at the end. Aides by his side screamed for the driver to shoot straight through the lights, but he refused. 'The crowds began banging angrily on the windows and roof. Boris looked terrified. He stared dead ahead, sensing that from this moment on, everything had changed'.”
Finally, Seldon's book contains the best summing up of Johnson that I have ever read (with my emphases):
"By the time Boris Johnson graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, at the age of 23, his irrepressible character had been largely forged, a character that would propel him to the very top of politics. Once at the pinnacle, the seeds of his decline and fall began inevitably to flower.
His three core character traits were evident by the time he left university:
● A skill exceptionally rare among political leaders to communicate with charisma and humour with the public far and wide, to read the mood and currents of politics, and to raise people’s sights about what could be achieved.
● An all-consuming self-centredness that impelled him to be the most important and visible person on every occasion, with the minimum effort required, and to be impatient of any person, precedent or procedure getting in the way of that quest. “I want it all and I want it now” was an impulse he found difficult to overcome.
● A lack of moral seriousness not mitigated by his intellect and rhetorical skills. Causes, commitments, colleagues as well as pledges, policies and partners were regarded as transitory and transactional. Any could be picked up only to be jettisoned when they no longer served his interests or pleasure.
These added up to three flaws that, unaddressed, would prove fatal: an inability to value truth and to set or pronounce on moral boundaries; to recognise merit, appoint the best people and trust them to do their jobs; and to stick by any decision or person without changing his mind.
The Conservatives, to the surprise of many, won the 2015 general election outright, ending the coalition with the Lib Dems. The in-out referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union was announced by David Cameron for June 23, 2016. The key influencer on voters, as No 10 was all too aware, would be Boris Johnson. He knew it too, and loved the power it gave him. He had one overriding question in his mind: would his chances of making it to No 10 be improved by voting Remain or voting Brexit?
“He was absolutely determined to become prime minister,” says election strategist Mark Fullbrook. Johnson would say, “I’ve watched Dave doing it and I’ve seen George wanting to do it. Why can’t I do it? If they can, I can.”
