The current PM: not working but leaving a pile of his mess for others to clear up

 

 

 

I’m ever so grateful to the people who compile the morning’s front pages of the dead tree press (link). Otherwise I’d never get to see what The Star produces. They are pretty creative when it comes to headlines and their picture editors are also quite good. This morning we get ‘Zombies at No 10 – Night of the living dread’. That hits the proverbial right on the head.

It is quite astonishing that the ‘quality press’ hasn’t touched the scandal of this absent government. Why is it that the whole cabinet is apparently incapable of doing anything at all in regard to inflation and the rampaging energy bills? The broadsheets are silent. 

Johnson, still PM, is doing what he does best: nothing at all. The  current Chancellor of the Exchequer, a certain Mr Zahawi, is silent. The current minister at Defra, a certain Mr Eustice, is silent. The current Home Secretary, a certain Ms Patel, is silent. Are they all on holidays? Is there nobody who is willing to recall the HoC? Are they all so fixated on that ‘race’ between Truss and Sunak that everything else is simply left to fester? Are their handlers, the Whitehall mandarins, also on holidays? The dearth of ‘sources’ leaking to their friends in the Westminster press would seem to indicate this.

Can we say that we have no government at present? I believe we can. I believe that the current situation, where Tory ‘Big Beasts’ are populating the broadsheets with their declarations of support for Truss, shows nicely the contempt in which they hold us, the electorate. Let the people, especially the poor and vulnerable, worry about how to pay the coming bills! Let the MSM produce ‘experts’ whose advice nobody in government needs to follow! Let MSM ‘experts’ scrutinise any ‘U-Turn’ by La Truss: that’s entertainment because we all know that she can’t do anything.

As for Sunak – well, he’s now apparently found some principle on which to stand. A pity this ‘principle’ only came out as another swipe at Miz Liz:

“Rishi Sunak on Wednesday night declared he would rather lose the Tory leadership contest than promise “false things” in a swipe at his rival Liz Truss’s economic policy. […] Mr Sunak said: “I haven’t been saying the easy things, and actually I’m prepared to lose this contest if it means that I’ve been true to my values. I’m fighting for the things that I think are right for this country. I’d rather lose on those terms, than win by promising false things that I can’t deliver.” (paywalled link)

Blimey. Well, Rishi, to this here cynical old cow you sound as if you’re already preparing your excuses for your defeat. I’m sure your ‘strategy analysts’ have already calculated that you’ll lose. So why not throw in the towel? Why not talk to the Tory Grandees about conceding now and letting Truss take over, now? After all, these Big Beasts know full well that another four weeks of internecine strife will damage even further any prospects of the Party surviving the next GE. 

Do the Tory Party ‘leaders’ really think that a repeat of the ‘coronation of Mrs M,’ who was left the lone survivor after all others had withdrawn, would be more damaging than the current state of affairs? How contemptuous of the plight of their constituents is that – and how shortsighted!

They’re leaving an open goal for Labour – and lo and behold, suddenly a former PM is speaking out. For years we’ve not heard anything from Mr Gordon Brown. Now, writing for the Grauniad, he calls for a ‘temporary re-nationalisation’ of energy firms (link). No, I also dunno likewise either how this can be achieved. All I know is that something which is ‘temporary’ will often outlast that which is permanent.

Of course, given that his predecessor, Mr T.B., had scrapped Labour’s ‘programme pillar’ of nationalisation, this means that we can expect a similar bloodbath inside Labour as the current one in the Tory Party. Brown is however correct with this observation:

“He warned the time for action was slipping away and major decisions had to be made within days. “Time and tide wait for no one. Neither do crises. They don’t take holidays, and don’t politely hang fire – certainly not to suit the convenience of a departing PM and the whims of two potential successors.” (link)

Just so. Furthermore, this ‘re-nationalisation’ plan will fall on fertile grounds with the electorate. Allister Heath in the DT has written a scathing analysis under the headlines: 

“The horrifying truth behind the coming collapse of basketcase Britain – The political climate is veering hard-Left, thanks to 20 years of short-termism, cowardice and state failure” (paywalled link)

This essay is worthy of receiving our ‘From behind the Paywall’ treatment, coming out later today, even though he sadly finishes declaring his support for Miz Liz, couched in flowery language. 

Our esteemed MSM meanwhile are indulging in ‘moar fear porn’ rather than asking relevant questions. The DT moans about possible wildfires sweeping across England because of the heat wave, garnished with a proper scare graph (paywalled link). The Times has a go at the Police failing in their duty (link, paywalled). 

They also have a piece on avian flu decimating seabirds nesting around the East Coast (link, paywalled). I mention this because the report is garnished with photos of people on a seashore picking up dead birds, all wearing hazmat suits. Since the bird flu doesn’t affect humans, I ask myself if this is how the millions of unused hazmat suits, stockpiled ‘because: covid’, are being recycled and used up because we have them. If you like sob stories with your coffee, then there’s always the DM where you can find a slew of them – scroll down here for ‘there’s no water’ wails.

Why is it that all those fabulous Westminster ‘editors’ and ‘political correspondents’ are clearly unwilling to ask who is actually running the ‘ship of state’ right now? Why is it that nobody in the Westminster MSM is asking where the deputy PM is (still Mr Raab)? Why is it that nobody in that swamp is raising a voice about the whereabouts of the current PM?

Are ‘heatwave’, “WFH” and ‘summer holidays’ the excuse for ‘nobody at home’, nothing to be done, let the plebs swelter and stew and worry? Remember last year’s complaint by a young civil servant in the FO who was left alone to deal with the Afghan evacuation? It seems we’ve got the same situation now, only now it’s all of us who are suffering. 

Meanwhile, Johnson is protected by the MSM. It doesn’t matter to the swamp dwellers that BJ, like a brat, shows that he couldn’t care less what mess he’s leaving behind. Why should he do some work and leave some semblance of order for his successor? There are no photo ops in that …

He gave us ‘L’etat ç’est moi’, now he gives us ‘après moi le déluge’. Nothing could show better the utter contempt in which he holds all of us.



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