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© REUTERS Winston
Churchill once quipped that the Balkans produces more history than it
can consume. That surplus now comes from Britain. Rana, you’ll probably
groan (though not as much as me) for having yet again to contemplate the
shenanigans taking place in my self-harming homeland. The sad thing for
everyone else is that the Conservative party’s degeneration is by no
means over. As my colleague Stephen Bush writes in his inimitable Inside Politics newsletter,
the party is coherent on nothing. They want balanced budgets but love
low taxes and high spending; they hate high inflation but insist on low
interest rates; they’re fans of high growth rates but revile the largest
market in the world on Britain’s doorstep. It long since ceased to be a
serious party. Some of them believe Britain is in trouble because
populism hasn’t actually been tried — you read that correctly. Others,
but not nearly enough of them, know that populism is the source of
Britain’s ills. The
idea that Conservative members of parliament will agree on a “unity
candidate” to replace Liz Truss by the end of next week is thus miracle
talk. There are lots of volunteers queueing up for decapitation at the
Downing Street guillotine. Whoever is next to be voted on to the tumbril
will have one advantage over their predecessors, of which this latest
would be the fifth in six years; they would begin in the expectation of
failure. It is always good to start on low expectations but in this case
they are likely to be borne out. Perhaps their choice will be Rishi
Sunak, the former chancellor of the exchequer whose resignation prompted
the flood that led to Boris Johnson’s departure last summer. Sunak was
the one whom Truss defeated in the agonising summer-long leadership
contest that followed. He warned that Truss’s tax-cutting plans would
trigger a run on the pound and a surge in inflation. He was right —
though anybody with their head screwed on could have forecast as much.
As Brutuses go, though, Sunak is fairly credible. Which is why the pet
rabbit-eating section of the Tory party will never warm to him. Many
of them would prefer Suella Braverman, whose resignation as home
secretary this week precipitated the end for Truss. Braverman, who is
British Asian, like her predecessor, Priti Patel, is one of those
non-white figures the party adulates because she can get away with
saying things that would have white Tories labelled as racist. At the
party conference earlier this month Braverman said her “dream” was to
see refugee seekers put on a plane to Rwanda. If you think I’m exaggerating, watch this.
No wonder her nickname is Cruella. I could trawl through a few other
names — Michael Gove, Jeremy Hunt, Penny Mordaunt, and beyond. Each
suffers from one or more of the flaws of those who went before. Which
brings me to Johnson. Like
a dog returning to its vomit, I fear the Conservative party has already
forgotten that Johnson was the least popular postwar prime minister
until Truss came along. That was why he was evicted. The thought that
the chief author of Britain’s ills could once again be appointed its
saviour is too much to bear. Nobody does political humour better than
the British but there is a limit to any joke. The time for the man-child
who said he was pro-cake and pro-eating it has past. We are doubled up
with indigestion. What Britain needs is competence, not this. In
conclusion I can do no better than quote my colleague, Robert
Shrimsley, on the umpteenth forthcoming Tory leadership contest.
“Johnson, Truss and their allies on the Tory right routinely denounced
critics as gloomsters and declinists determined to talk the UK down,”
Robert writes. “In fact it is they who have driven down its economy and
tarnished Britain’s international standing. It has been painful to see
the country through the eyes of its allies. Those who shout loudest
about the need for belief in Britain have turned out to be those who did
most to dispel that faith.” Rana, what’s your take on the special
relationship? Do we catch political viruses from each other? |