Friday, June 08, 2018
The chaos at the heart of the Tory Government
I haven't enjoyed a Tory Government meltdown so much since John Major resigned the Tory leadership in an effort to force a confrontation with his Eurosceptic 'bastards'. The downside however, is that these idiots are meant to be running the country at a time of major crisis, when they would struggle to run a bath.
I am sure many of us sat open-mouthed as the will-he-won't-he saga unfolded around David Davis' threatened resignation over the so-called Northern Irish backstop. In the end he stayed on in return for a large helping of fudge, a deadline date to introduce a hard border which wasn't a deadline at all, and which in any case the other 27 EU countries are not likely to find acceptable.
It is almost as if UK Ministers have built a large cocoon around Whitehall inside of which they are able to play out gaming scenarios without having to deal with the real world or indeed make reference to any other players.
Those of us who want to stay in the EU bemoan the fact that it will leave the UK isolated in an inter-related, multi-national world. The fact is that this Government has already reached that point of no-return. They are not just isolated from everybody else, they are isolated from each other.
And then came the icing on the cake, Boris Johnson's leaked speech in which he once more makes a bid to be the supreme ruler of his own little universe. In the audio, which lasted for more than an hour Boris gave a rundown of just how messed up the Theresa May government is:
Johnson insisted he won’t compromise on the final terms of Britain’s future economic relationship, but said the Brexiteers were at risk of getting a deal far worse than they’d hoped for. The government is so terrified of short-term economic disruption that it’s at risk of throwing away the opportunities presented by Brexit. He ridiculed the concerns about disruption at the borders as “pure millennium bug stuff” and said it’s “beyond belief” that the Northern Ireland border has become an obstacle in the negotiations.
What this speech reveals more than anything is the extent to which the whole UK Government is in denial as to the impact of Brexit on our economy, our standing in the world and our future as a trading nation. They really do not understand the position of the people they are negotiating with, their motives or their interests. No wonder there is a stand-off.
We now have dysfunction as an art form within government and a worrying reliance on the likes of Donald Trump to bail us out. This Government makes John Major's look competent. We really are going to hell in a handcart.
I am sure many of us sat open-mouthed as the will-he-won't-he saga unfolded around David Davis' threatened resignation over the so-called Northern Irish backstop. In the end he stayed on in return for a large helping of fudge, a deadline date to introduce a hard border which wasn't a deadline at all, and which in any case the other 27 EU countries are not likely to find acceptable.
It is almost as if UK Ministers have built a large cocoon around Whitehall inside of which they are able to play out gaming scenarios without having to deal with the real world or indeed make reference to any other players.
Those of us who want to stay in the EU bemoan the fact that it will leave the UK isolated in an inter-related, multi-national world. The fact is that this Government has already reached that point of no-return. They are not just isolated from everybody else, they are isolated from each other.
And then came the icing on the cake, Boris Johnson's leaked speech in which he once more makes a bid to be the supreme ruler of his own little universe. In the audio, which lasted for more than an hour Boris gave a rundown of just how messed up the Theresa May government is:
Johnson insisted he won’t compromise on the final terms of Britain’s future economic relationship, but said the Brexiteers were at risk of getting a deal far worse than they’d hoped for. The government is so terrified of short-term economic disruption that it’s at risk of throwing away the opportunities presented by Brexit. He ridiculed the concerns about disruption at the borders as “pure millennium bug stuff” and said it’s “beyond belief” that the Northern Ireland border has become an obstacle in the negotiations.
What this speech reveals more than anything is the extent to which the whole UK Government is in denial as to the impact of Brexit on our economy, our standing in the world and our future as a trading nation. They really do not understand the position of the people they are negotiating with, their motives or their interests. No wonder there is a stand-off.
We now have dysfunction as an art form within government and a worrying reliance on the likes of Donald Trump to bail us out. This Government makes John Major's look competent. We really are going to hell in a handcart.
