It’s good to know that, if he becomes PM,
Rishi Sunak will put
the UK on a crisis footing in order to address the problems left
behind by the outgoing government. It is, however, a bit like a bored
firefighter becoming an arsonist to show how good he is at putting out fires.
The specific problems to which he refers, in the NHS, have all got worse during
the last 12 years of Tory rule, and even more so during the three years of the
Johnson government. Whilst it’s true that the Covid pandemic exacerbated the
situation, things wouldn’t have become quite so bad if the Chancellor at the
time, whose name Sunak obviously can’t quite remember, hadn’t been so
determined to prioritise what he called fiscal responsibility over meeting
people’s needs. And that other Sunak, to whom the current one is obviously no
relation, was quite happy for people to be briefed on a regular basis about how
he had been amongst those arguing in Cabinet for fewer restrictions and for
ending the restrictions sooner – decisions which have added to the difficulties
faced by the Health Service.
Sunak 2 might even get away with the trick
– not in the sense of solving the NHS backlog problem, of course: neither candidate
is willing to do what that would take. But presenting the government as a
completely new one, taking no responsibility for the actions and policies of
its predecessor is exactly what Johnson did three years ago. Truss N (I’m not
sure what iteration we’re up to in her case, but it’s certainly more than 2) will
no doubt try the same trick if she wins, in her case trashing what passed for
an economic policy under her predecessor. I’d like to believe that it can’t
work, that people would see through it this time round, but sadly I’m not at
all sure that it won’t work just as well a second time. According to the
insights of Dominic Cummings (admittedly not exactly the most dependable of
sources, but what he
says on this is so mad as to be just about believable), Johnson is backing
Truss on the basis of his belief that any government led by her would implode
before long, giving him the chance to return by acclamation. The second part of
that – the triumphal return – is certifiably bonkers, but the first part – the implosion
– has a certain ring of credibility to it. It comes to something when, in a
phrase I never thought I (or anyone else) would ever write, our best hope of
escaping madness lies with Liz Truss.
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1 comment:
The Commons report on the NHS was about England, can we read across what you wrote to judge HMG government in Wales with the same gang being in power (in some form) for over twenty years?
Can someone tell ‘Risky’ Sunak that he may not have the power to ‘put the UK on a crisis footing.’
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