Despite the fact that Britain, in common with the rest of Europe, is being continually threatened by Russia, not just militarily, but also in other areas of intelligence, the attention being focused on by the mainstream media is the ongoing pantomine that is British politics.
In the last few days, we had endless coverage of the defection of former Conservative MP Andrea Jenkyns to Nigel Farage’s Reform party; meanwhile leading light Ben Habib, who’s still whining over the fact that he not only failed to win a parlimentary seat, but is also being dropped from the so-called top table, announced that he was leaving. Then it was revealed that the Labour government had been rocked by yet another self-inflicted scandal, after Louise Haigh was forced to resign as transport secretary over a past conviction for fraud was exposed in the media, the first to quit the cabinet this parliament. In the worse case scenario, this could have triggered a recall petition to have her expelled from parliament, which would have meant a by-election would have to be held. This was on the front page of several national newspapers as well the top story on the news channels.
Like many people concerned about the parlous state of the country, I often despair at the poor quality of MPs in the current parliament. It’s like observing a glorified playground argument, in which both the government and opposition parties resort to exchanging petty insults. No wonder people have very little faith in parliament’s ability to deliver real lasting change.
What is extremely frustrating is that there is a clear public perception that almost every aspect of life in the UK today simply doesn’t work. Our public services are chronically badly managed and underfunded. Our vital infrastructure is in a mess. We have both a very poorly educated and unhealthy workforce. A significant part of the population live in substandard housing. Public transport is repeatedly failing to get us from one place to another. Crime is continually rising as a result of widespread inequality. Immigration remains a long-term headache for policymakers. The already sputtering economy is in danger of collapse mostly not just only due to brexit, but also to proposed trade tariffs set to be imposed by the US government in 2025. Trying to resolve these and many other complex issues often require strong leadership, sound policies and a vision, but they have been missing for a long time, particularly from the present Labour adminstration.
The UK’s political system has always been a complete joke, except that it has long ceased to be funny.