By Isle of Wight Observer
Thanks to its complex multi‑party system, Belgium went 541 days without a government. I’m sure most of us would happily endure a long, hot summer without a Prime Minister. I’m fed up with the lot of them.
Keir Starmer choked back tears as he listed his ‘achievements’ on Monday. Aside from dealing with antisemitism, the short inventory he read out seemed delusional. Our NHS is not fixed; it’s dysfunctional. They didn’t get half a million kids out of poverty; they spent billions we can’t afford. ‘Smashing the gangs’ replaced ‘stop the boats’, but on a single day last week, 11 dinghies arrived in Dover with 710 people. Is that success? Keir did manage to stop that dodgy Russian oil tanker off the Island coast, but those inflatables are still problematic.
Keir gave us 16 per cent youth unemployment and squandered a huge parliamentary majority exceptionally quickly. In his brief time in office, he managed to make an enemy of just about everybody: pensioners, workers, employers, farmers, America, and even his own party members. How many resets and relaunches were there? In increasingly desperate attempts to save his own unpopular skin, he blamed and sacked everyone around him. In the end, his backbenchers knew the longer he clung on, the more likely they were to face their own personal oblivion. I can’t believe Richard Quigley seriously mourns his passing. We’re about to have our seventh Prime Minister in 10 years, and Keir was head and shoulders the worst of the lot. The polls say so, too. Backbenchers aren’t daft. The moment they know their leader is a disaster for them personally, they act.
The hype around Andy Burnham is ludicrous. Our next Prime Minister has no mandate, no plan, and no money. He also has the world’s worst in-tray. What could possibly go wrong?
Saviour Andy couldn’t even convince 40 per cent of the voters in Makerfield that he had anything to offer – other than that old political chestnut – ‘hope’. Given the hype and blanket media coverage, that’s an extraordinary amount of apathy. Starmer did set a low bar, but Burnham seems at least as mediocre.
Andy doesn’t have much about him as far as I can see. What can he really do differently when there’s no desire in the parliamentary Labour Party to cut our unaffordable, out‑of‑control welfare bill? Without a serious rethink on benefits, any meaningful change is nigh on impossible. Do they really not care that they’re leaving our young people a terrible debt legacy? A year from now, the demand for a general election could be unstoppable.
I believe that when an MP crosses the floor, or a new leader is elected, we should be entitled to a fresh election. Unfortunately, politicians of all stripes much prefer to cling on until the last possible moment.
Say what you like about Tony Blair, when he won power, he immediately said, “We were elected as New Labour, and we will govern as New Labour.” Like with Maggie, we knew where we stood. Blair disappointed the left but kept them in check. But for his support for George W Bush, he may have maintained his grip on the party for a lot longer.
If Andy Burnham really intends to govern from the left, our nation seems doomed. The hard left vision for Britain includes unlimited migration and borrowing, and spending billions more on welfare and green measures. You’d never believe there are more forests in the world now than there were in 1950. Despite this, Ed Miliband won’t tolerate any cuts to his mindless splurge on environmental measures. Remember David Cameron’s order to “get rid of all the green crap”. It seems like a lifetime ago!