Imoral, misguided or just plain corruption

Boris Johnson has been in power as the head of government for more than a year. He won the Tory leadership contest first and then in December 2019 went to a General Election. So we should only count the days from the GE date rather than the leadership date. He won against an opponent who was toxic to the electorate middle ground. Corbyn, and Corbyn did not consider standing himself down regardless of the heap of negative press which came out of the majority of newspapers. His far left stance was old Labour and granted he whipped up support from the younger generations, he was never going to win those kingmaker mid-political-spectrum-votes. The consequence, a whopping 87 seat Tory majority and a disastrous result for Labour. Effectively now, Boris can do anything he likes in government. To cement his control Boris kicked out the experienced voices of reason, the ones who had level heads and might rebel.

Brand new MPs were engaged in Parliament with fresh willing-to-please faces. The sort who'd never been so high in politics before, eager to side with their master, do what he asks, because it is the Tory party that matters. It is power that matters and he has it all. Yet, in reality Boris is not running the country it is his special advisor Dominic Cummings and what Cummings says Boris follows.  Boris has no strategic plan of where to take the country is area of expertise is jingles the sort which sell tabloids and editors like, especially the "get Brexit done" which no doubt in many years time will be inscribed on a tomb somewhere.

With this government what normally would of been sackable offences and front page news has little value. In years gone by a scandal hitting the headlines would of led to being hounded out of office no longer is this the case. The old news cycle of yesteryear would reveal snippets of information over a few days, papers got their teeth into the story, pressure would mount up and the culprit ignominiously be kicked out of office. But the master of distraction is Boris, he termed the throwing a dead cat on a table.

It's a story which distracts from the primary news, simply a magicians method of misdirection. The news cycle has rapidly changed from hour to hour rather than day to day.  This government ensures the reigns of press are particularly weighted to the Tories as well. Yet we go from one disastrous news item to another, both in themselves they'd singly ensure a change of minister but rapid distraction is like a magician shuffling a deck of cards keeping them in office. We simply forget what happened, we stop shouting at yesterdays news and are aghast at today's news. With so many inept individuals in cabinet, making so many egregious decisions there is always something new to put in print, and so the distraction process of incompetency ensure they stay in power. They have all been promoted beyond their ability, more so than schools' exams fiasco.

Looking across the pond we see similar diversion methods being used by Trump, again a man not fit for office.  British government no longer plays by the rule of honour. Which is Johnson's choice, as the PM sets the culture and the rule book has been thrown out. Services which should go to public tender are given to colleagues to make a quick buck. Independent legal teams such as the Good Law Project are crowd funded are doing their best to bring these persons to account. Yet, these acts of appropriation should not be happening in the first place! This is so outlandish there must be a conscious decision making process going on behind it. It cannot be because of some misguided vision of the world because it is happening repeatedly.  Jobs for the lads can be seen as Cummings farming out contracts to friends.

How can this be right? How can they be getting away with running a government as though it is their own version of Monopoly and they have the cash tin? Again it comes down to an 87 seat majority and a disregard for unstated rules of behaviour and what can only be judged as corruption.

Test, Track and Isolate was taken up by Dido Hardy Harding a pitifully bad executive of Talk Talk who negligently allowed customer data to be hacked, her husband also an MP is on the 1812 committee and is an advocate of privatising the NHS. She also was on the board advocating the Cheltenham Festival take place just as Covid 19 had hit the country.

Rishi Sunak used to be a corporate hedge fund executive working for the Children's Investment Fund management. Which had been blacklisted for tax avoidance. He was also involved in the attempted raid on an American company's pension fund. Something he may consider to put in place for British pensioners in the future. After all he has to try and pretend he's interested in making the books balance. I doubt though whether he has as much money as his multi-millionaire wife. In government, he plays the art of doing what he's told he has no control over budgets he just likes to look competent. Then there was the case of Chris Greyling, the only man to ever buy a cross ferry contract for a company which owned no ferries and then to not get himself voted onto the intelligence committee because for once MPs did

actually vote conscientiously for the best person for the job Julian Lewis. There's talk Cummings wanted another puppet and access to the MOD. What a slap in the face that must of been? It stung so hard the Tories removed the whip from him. He is effectively chair of the highest defence committee in the country with no party. As for Dominic Raab who can ever forgive him saying he would prosecute the Dunn parents using the full weight of his Office for daring to challenge the manslaughter of Harry Dunn and requesting Anne Sacoolas come back to Britain to face justice. His judgement is despicable, he is a nasty individual. His quick wittedness is legendary especially for the time he admitted on prime TV only just realising the importance of the Port of Calais

in BREXIT negotiations. Lastly, lets also not forget the bumbling Matt Hancock a man who likes to lie to your face. He could never have passed his Maths at school because tests sent out in the post are counted as completed tests. He goes on camera and has the appearance of the pupil who didn't do his homework and has to answer questions from a teacher. It's getting to the point the most benign Tory backing interviewers such as Nick Ferari make Hancock look like an idiot and they don't mean to.

This is the worst successive Tory government we've had since the ones before and nobody would of thought it possible. A further three years of this government will lead to riots in the streets, will lead to marches on parliament and will lead to an absolute break down of civil society the like this country just has not seen and would never of thought possible. God help us all, if you believe in a non-existent useless entity that would be the most useless thing to say. A little like our government.

COVID 19 and the British Government

There is no doubt in my mind Britain now has the worst government in living memory. There is no minister who gives any confidence in their decision making. As for their leader, our PM, this is not a man I'd follow in any circumstances. Asking the question of how the hell they got in power gets nowhere, it was because they pumped one issue and played on those in society who believed they'd been left out, blaming the EU for all their troubles. Yet, a Tory government has been in power 10 years prior so if those voters were missing out surely it would of been down to the very same political party who'd ensured they'd missed out over this time period. The Tory press has a lot to do with it, or rather the Conservative, with a big Con press. The decisions of government impact every individual in society yet, it is obvious there is only one group of individuals who win out with a right wing government, it's those who have never wanted in their lives.

Oddly now though we are starting to see even the right win press give the government a bashing for their obtuse stewardship. Presenters on talk radio who'd normally be sympathetic begin to ask probing questions. Why is it in this time of crisis, the government lost valuable weeks on the notion Britian should undergo a living experiment in herd immunity. The theory being if enough people get Coronavirus (Covid 19) then it will provide a protection for those who don't get it. The madness began to be seen for what it was at the point they realised hospitals would be inundated with dead. They'd become the latter day morgues. As for the morgues, they'd be overwhelmed and mobile freezer lorries would be organized, not forgetting the odd ice rink to keep bodies from piling up and stinking. Such a disaster they would not be able to walk away from. The indiscriminate nature of this virus would even scare the rich. What's the use of having a few million in your bank account if you then get sick and die? So momentarily a little sanity crept back into the madness. Perhaps it saved a few lives, but now with the UK likely to have the highest European death toll the realisation was a little late. But hey, what does it matter the most vulnerable are those who take the most resources out of society. For them our taxes are spent on, care packages galore, hospital admissions by the millions in every year. The elderly and the disabled, it's pretty convenient you can hear ministers say in secret. Lets reduce pension spending and NHS spending, just by letting this little thing run on for longer than necessary. They'll spin it in the end to make it seem a lot was done, but when it's done late then it's a second thought rather than a first thought.

So it is Johnson recovers from the lurgies, in consideration he went to hospitals where patients were and shook their hands its almost like he wanted to catch it in the first place. I'm sure going to ICU was a bit of a scare, yet blindly and with jolly vigor he would not believe this was a deadly illness. He thought in his mind it was just like a strong flu. Will it of taught him a lesson? Who knows?  We'll see. But one thing's for sure, we'll still be coming out of Europe, regardless of the need to get PPE supplies and save lives, heavens above, a delay would be out of the question.

The greatest challenge to political leadership

This perhaps goes for every form of leadership, whether it is a mother who is taking a bunch of noisy children to the park, a manager in an organization but in particular the leader of a country. To lead from the front becomes more relevant and essential during a time of crisis. It is also the time when leadership is under the greatest of judgements both by those internal to an organization and those external. Today we see the likes of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson take on the Corona virus crisis. This is no ordinary crisis, it is one which will have an enduring impact on their countries, one which will cost lives and one which will show the failings of leadership and government strategy.

In Britain the National Health Service has been underfunded for decades by successive governments, health care has become more expensive, more extensive and more burdensome on the state. A truism of any government is they can with hand on heart say they've spent more on the NHS than the government before. But this doesn't mean anything, it has to be put into context, especially of the ever increasing number of elderly patients which require long term care until their dying day. There are not enough care homes to house them, so they lay in hospital beds blocking other patients who require the service. Monetary value then goes on maintaining the last years of health for a pensioner who is no longer contributing the same taxation to the economy as they did when many years younger and working. Something is wrong. It is wrong with how our economy works, how we pay taxes, on the type of capitalism and democracy we have in play. A look around the world sees different forms of democracy and capitalism from one country to the next. Perhaps they are on an scale between capitalism which ultimately is so egotistical it is only what the individual personally makes that matters against the tyranny of authoritarian autocracy or authoritarian communism.

A group of individuals working together is called a team, the best teams have clear lines of responsibility and work co dependently not independently. They communicate and have a joint goal they are proud of, one they all agree on and each and every member is unafraid to state what is on their mind, they know reaching their goal is what matters, but a democracy where one is valued above the other by what they can earn is not a democracy, yet it is the reality of today. Education and understanding of political systems is what holds societies together. So one faction can feed a less education to another and in so doing manipulate them into constantly voting against their own interests. As with truth, there is no white blanket of what a truth is, it comes in many shades and depends on which flavour is preferred. Human beings inherently like to confirm what their own bias shows to reveal their own truth. The moment we let go of such bias is the moment we begin to think for ourselves, the moment we filter through information and re-assemble it, and remove the qualities which exist to manipulate us the clearer our understanding becomes.

Today, the most powerful leader in the Western world advocates his ratings as a key indicator of how well he is doing. The political stage is a serious one, it costs lives, and what Trump doesn't understand is the morbid curiosity of those who are watching the American car crash happen before their eyes. The great American black comedy show, one in which the most incompetent man possible is no where near capable of dealing with the greatest challenge the Western world is facing. We may elect politicians on a single issue of importance, somehow they then come into power and this is often against the majority of voters. A single issue does not mean they are competent with the whole gamut of problems the world has, such is clear today. As Britain now also descends in the the worst econmic, health and social crisis it has ever had. We will not live long an prosper that's for sure.

Pinning the tail on the political donkey

So we come into 2020 with the last part of the decade being the most politically toxic it has been for

many years. It is easy for me to say Cameron who was full of arrogance and no substance, May the uptight leather jean wearing recluse and now Johnson the narcissic PM were not and are not my representatives of good politicians or heads of the British political system. None of them deserve a place in history none of them have the qualities of a leader I'd follow in any situation. Unless it just happened to be a clown show. Johnson's run has only just began and the worst part of all he has managed to pull on board voters over from Labour to Tory. Voters who will over the next 5 years have much time to realise the mistake of their ways. It's been stated madness is doing the same thing over and over again and hoping there will be a different result. Since 2008 the Tories have been in power and the stagnation of the UK economy continues, it's not getting better for anyone unless you happen to be a millionaire megalomaniac sitting in the highest seat of power we have, i.e. parliament.

If there were a hell, in December 2019, a very special place was made for those incumbent Labour voters who changed their mind and voted the Tories into power. A strength which has seen them now gain an 80 plus seat majority. This is in my mind the most disgraceful behaviour a traditional Labour voter can have and with no doubt such voters will have to contend with the deceased souls of their families who are no doubt raging with fury. Those ghosts will become poltergeists in the next few months. I personally feel each one of these individuals will in some way get to feel the results of their actions pretty soon, but will likely deny those results.

Getting the Tories into power has never been about Brexit, this is just what Hitchcock would call the McGovern. A reason for the story to be strung along. The Tories being in power is to as usual ensure Tories are better off in this world than those who they see as plebs. With the next 5 years they will financially kill Britain, selling off everything they possibly can and making money on everything they possibly can and say it is an efficiency measure. The death of the NHS is but a 1000 sword strikes away, as they under fund it yet at the same time say it has the biggest injection of cash resources it's ever had. A true statement which can be said every single year by every single government, easily satisfied by just giving the NHS more money but ensuring it is below inflationary measures. Effectively the NHS will be starved of resources, if you want health care you will have to personally buy into private health care which costs on average £1500 per year per member of your family. Of course if you have a pre-existing illness this will not be treated.  At present we have suffered 10 years of austerity now we're about to leave the EU then our free trading agreements will also end, so will the quick entry and exit of goods and services from and into the UK as tariffs will need to be added. Tariffs which the purchaser will be required to pay for not the government, so wait and see your shopping basket go up.

The right wing tabloid media had a wonderful time in the election of December 2019, they touted fear politics and Corbyn was the easiest target to hit. Democracy has been attacked successfully. This was not a game of pin the tail on the donkey blindfolded. In this scenario the donkey was endowed with the biggest backside in the world and the blindfold was lost, a huge spot light focused on that bottom and with the stench of a recent big shite even the visually impaired didn't have a problem hitting the mark. However, the thing with the tabloid media is it eats up news more readily than any machine can make news. It doesn't take long before the same tabloid media starts to throw out verbal crap on the disgraceful behaviour of their own Tory MPs, who will with no doubt provide lots of news worthy items. Very much like being stuck on an island of cannibals who've just finished of their rival tribe now looking eye fully at their over fat great uncle who will nicely fit in next week's cooking pot.

As the children's party ends each beautiful little child walks away with a goody bag, a little cake some sweets and perhaps a small prize they won from the events of the afternoon. Maybe even a paper cut out donkey tail, they are happy. However, for those who voted Tory but live ordinary working class lives, those who believe in a just and equal society but still voted for this government their disappointment or perhaps guilt for doing so will become a large burden on their back to carry around. They are not going to be able to seek medical attention for it because there will be no GP surgery there to attend. Maybe we'll see a resurgence of modern day witch craft, a return to ignorance and bigotry long ago removed through education. But of course there will be little education about either as classroom sizes increase. Oh dear what Britain becomes in the future will be something Hercules would have a problem carrying on his back.