Think for a moment of a joyous fairground, of adrenaline, of high-speed rollercoasters and jubilant crowds in awe of an illuminating spectacle. Now imagine a carnival suffering from an abysmal reputation of malfunctioning rides with high staff turnover and a manager deluded on how to fix the mess.
This latter fairground symbolises UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s crisis-laden prime ministership, one of widespread strike action, a cost-of-living crisis, public spending cuts and rocketing inflation. All are symptoms of the intense furore surrounding Sunak’s circus.
His appointment in October signalled to the traditional Tory base that new beginnings were on the horizon, whereby the factionalism, incompetence and mishaps that sank his predecessors were things of the past. However, Sunak’s new Conservative Party government is struggling to get off the ground, mainly due to angst-ridden voters unable to make ends meet amid a soaring cost-of-living crisis.
The mismanagement is not helped by a revolving door of leadership. Last year three prime ministers occupied Downing Street after two were humiliatingly ousted.
A morally bankrupt Boris Johnson was the first to exit the ride after a litany of scandals wracked his reputation — from lockdown-breaking parties during the pandemic to a mass exodus of cabinet ministers. Waiting first in line to take over was low-tax mascot Liz Truss, whose expensive ticket of trickle-down investment and the scrapping of bankers’ bonus was enough for her carousel ride to be the shortest in history.
After 49 days of intra-party strife over Trussonomics, along came adrenaline-junkie Sunak. Not his first rodeo, though, as his initial bid for the top job was overshadowed by his resignation from Johnson’s cabinet, starting a revolt that was cataclysmic for the Tories’ reputation. Nevertheless, the next time he threw his hat into the ring, he won.
Sunak’s government has thus far not improved the party’s image, instead shining a light on the crooked house that is Downing Street.
Lest we forget Sunak’s delay in sacking party chair Nadhim Zahawi who faced controversy for not declaring he was issued with a tax penalty after a lengthy investigation by the tax office. Justice Minister Dominic Raab also faces mounting allegations of bullying from junior staffers, and three senior officials were recently interviewed by an ongoing inquiry into how he has allegedly treated staff. Raab has promised to resign if he’s found guilty, yet Sunak’s timidity means Raab is able to cling to his job for now.
The prime minister’s family is worth more than a whopping £700 million, so what attracts the multi-millionaire tech bro to keep overseeing a fair mired in multiple scandals? Maybe it’s to salvage his own approval ratings by hoping the public has forgotten that as chancellor, he oversaw the biggest rise in taxes for average Britons at the time his wife was avoiding paying large amounts of UK income tax.
Sunak’s leadership has only exacerbated the despair felt by voters as Britain faces deepening crises that outpace its Western counterparts. For example, he has refused to budge on inflation-busting pay increases for striking public sector workers, has been accused of a “scattergun” approach towards business owners who cannot afford high energy bills, and has been focusing solely on criticising “woke” issues such as trans rights in an attempt to fend off criticism from the predominantly anti-woke and right-wing media.
Widespread outrage spurred on by Sunak’s invisibility on pressing issues has besieged his leadership. Most of the public support those who have little choice but to strike. An estimated two-thirds of poll respondents support the walk-out by nurses and ambulance workers, with 45% “strongly” backing it.
The government’s poll ratings continue to plummet after the abominable actions of Truss, Johnson and now Sunak. For a while, Labour has led the Conservatives by double digits when voters are asked who they’d prefer if a general election were imminent. It’s as clear as day that the Tories’ wrecking ball has smashed its way through voter despair with no plans to clear up the mess.
Sunak’s ambitions to transform a fairground government riven with chaos into a success is lacking innovation and spending capacity. If the prime doesn’t do more to appease an exasperated and struggling public, this rollercoaster of doom will resume at breakneck speed.
If Sunak’s the answer, then what was the question?
Surveying the wreckage, the only suggestion
is: “Just who was left when the Lizbot got booted
and Boris returning would leave them all rooted?”
With Labour ascendant and scandals unceasing,
the Tories saw hopes for their future decreasing.
So Rishi was chosen to rise from the ashes,
“integrity” promised to dodge further crashes,
but all that reshuffling just leaves me still thinking
the ship’s hit the iceberg and cannot stop sinking.
The carnival’s over, the empire’s in trouble
as Britain’s world-standing is burst like a bubble.
Go Gazza, and paint the wreckage in camouflage. (or black)
Wasn’t the Russian funded Brexit excursion exciting?
A friend explained that when the middle class claimed “They wanted Britain for Britons”, they actually were being racist.
Apparently, they wanted Britain for white Anglo-Saxons and Celts.
I suppose that is the sub-text for the “No” side in the Voice question.
Most -isms involve the making of generalisations about “others” that are convenient to the generaliser.
The people of Cornwall were among the strongest brexiteers. This is not surprising; as a general rule they identify as Celtic and still resent being recently (ninth century) swamped by Anglo Saxon foreigners.
To describe adequately the current degenerate and corrupted state of the UK’s Tory Party and government needs quite a lot more than the above. The Tories have developed ever-closer links to super-wealthy individuals who buy influence and important party posts, keep their money in tax havens, are tied to unfriendly or hostile foreign governments and/or may be involved in organised crime. There is Sunak’s obsession, going back long before he became PM, with setting up ‘free ports’ operated by cronies, which control their own security with private contractors, by-pass all normal customs and revenue provisions and provide protected environment for smugglers and other types of organised crime. The colossal scandals relating to COVID contracts where many billions of pounds were handed out, no questions asked, to unqualified and incompetent companies solely because they were personally recommended by Tory ministers, remain unresolved. In the last few days Sunak has applauded his own attempt to resolve the problems with trade in Northern Ireland by saying it preserves for NI the enormous benefit of free trade with the EU; as many point out, if free trade with the EU is beneficial, and it surely is, why the hell did the UK leave the EU and the single market? Brexit is as catastrophic as its opponents predicted, but the Tories refuse to admit it. Neither will Labour, but that’s another story.
Any leader of a country such as Rishi needs to explain in basic terms why he should occupy 10 Downing St, when his wife and her family were dodging taxes that should be supporting the health and well being of the UK.
I cringe whenever I hear the words “Tax haven/ minimization let alone tax dodging”.
If people are unwilling to pay their fair share of tax, so that the country can support itself, then they are anti-social personality types better suited to living in a refugee camp instead of the desperate people willing to work and contribute in exchange for a stable society, .
Poor old brits. Cant get anything right anymore. Too corrupt for words. Can we get a submarine from them before they go down for the third time? Times running out.
Do we want a submarine from them?
Untrustworthy………..
“… signalled to the traditional Tory base that new beginnings were on the horizon”? Crikey! Where can I get some of whatever they’re on?
Pity the Labour Party purged its left and now stands for nothing. At least it’s not anti-Semitic anymore….
Antisemitic or Anti-Zionist?