Thinking the unthinkable?
Now is the time for a radical reframing of politics in the U.K. Some thoughts.
For the last 50 years, politics was something in which I had no interest. Even now, I tip toe nervously into a topic that has taken on a decidedly feral flavour in much of what passes for media.
It seems to me that recent governments no longer govern in the interests of the people they’re supposed to represent but at the will of powerful business and financial interests. It’s a near 40 year trend, made public in Reaganomics, echoed by Thatcherism, and seen in its full splendour today as shadowy speculators, fuelled by technology drive the price of oil - allegedly.
As each day passes I wonder in which direction our elected government will lurch next while at the same time viewing an opposition that’s long on precision legalities but woefully short on ideas.
All of which leads me to wonder what happens next. Viewing the so-called (i.e. paid for lobby driven) media, it appears that most is based on the latest planted social media leaks with rabid headlines to accentuate the outrage editors (check https://express.co.U.K. for regular ‘outrage’) assume that readers feel rather than considering any objective assessment of the economic facts that dig into our collective wallets.
There can be little doubt that large swathes of the U.K. population are suffering economic deprivation. I see this daily in the prices we all pay for essential foods. And let’s not go there when it comes to energy in all its forms. By my reckoning - and I don’t run a car - our household expenses are rising well beyond the much heralded 10% inflation rate. I see that restaurant chain financial stress is at eye watering levels. Our local pubs are seeing declines in attendance. And I live in a relatively wealthy village.
Our politicians from both main parties have no answers I can understand or unpack into ideas that seem sensible. That’s the first time in living memory. And yes, I lived through the 1970-80’s chaos of double digit inflation.
Is there an answer? There always is but I’m not hearing it but here are my thoughts as a citizen who wants a better world for my family:
Our first past the post electoral system is fundamentally broken as it polarises selection. It’s now a case of ‘you’re with us or agin us.’ Is that right in 2022? We need proportional representation so that politicians are encouraged to garner a broad church of consensus among people with whom they need to converse rather than preach as an alternative to the tired ‘left/right’ trope that dominates media.
Ideological positioning is a dead end. I hear the arguments for a reworking of the NI Protocol but its ideological underpinning makes no sense in a world where we need trading partners. In short - get fucking real!
The idea that general income tax cuts will save us all and the current government is bonkers. Instead, we need measures that lift the poorest in our country. That might mean tax cuts of some sort but they must be targeted. VAT?
We need a healthcare system that works. The creeping privatisation of the NHS has done nothing to improve healthcare in a country that once had the best healthcare system in the world. It’s tragic that frontline workers are poorly valued. Is it any surprise that GP’s are retiring early? It needs a radical rethink with frontline service prioritised above bureaucratic bean counting.
We need to educate for the present and future. Government should not be ‘encouraging’ business to train and retrain but mandating the same - yes, that’s a tax charge with rebates for demonstrated performance. Schools and higher education curricula must put STEM at the centre rather than allowing liberal arts to take centre stage.
Above all, we need a government with the courage to detach itself from the financialization of policy. As long as governments see themselves as beholden to financial markets rather than the people they are meant to serve then we are all on the road to hell.
None of this happens without firm and charismatic leadership that speaks to the needs of the majority rather than the bullshit we see from the ERG running rings around a failed prime minister. Where does that come from?
My best guess is Angela Rayner. She knows what it’s like to live in poverty and talks the language many understand. But can she straddle the needs of the poorest and the middle class? I’d like to think so but don’t know. I can’t think of anyone on the Tory roster who come close and as for the LibDems? Who?
If not Rayner then who will draft and drive the radical agenda this country desperately needs? Keith Starmer as Labour leader could step aside for Rayner without any loss of prestige. He’s a brilliant debater with the eye for detail needed to get shit done and which could support a radical agenda. At least in my view. It might be the start the U.K. needs.
P.S. I never thought I would write this story…how the world has changed.
P.P.S in other news I’m deluged with ‘spend, spend, spend’ offers. Not. Happening.