August is traditionally known in the media as ‘the silly season’, compensation for the apparent lack of news coming in the form of reporting trivia. But despite most of our MPs including our PM remaining resolutely On Holiday despite the disasters unfolding around them there’s been no shortage of news, the main item of which must be the mismanagement of and strong feelings about the migrant barge, Bibby Stockholm. Yet another project in which the supplier is a Tory donor, it’s been said to be costing far more than cruise ship or 4 star hotel accommodation, its use delayed by inadequate fire safety checks and now the first migrants aboard have had to disembark due to concerns about possible Legionnaire’s Disease risks. No wonder #SuellaLegionella has been trending on Twitter and a senior Tory has called for Braverman to be sacked. This is such a humiliation for the government, which would rather spend far more than necessary and not process asylum claims in order to provide meat for their racist supporters, to deflect attention from their wrecking of this country and to satisfy their ideological dogma. Two tweets get it in one: ‘The easiest way to ‘stop the boats’ would to be a build an Asylum Centre in Calais which the French have said we can do a million times. Of course that would offer a LEGAL way to apply for Asylum, so the Conservatives won’t do that’. ‘If Sunak really wanted to stop the boats, he’d have done something to stop the boats. He could take the smugglers’ market away at a stroke by taking up France’s offer of processing facilities near Calais. But he wants enemies on the beaches for election time’. On Radio 4’s Any Questions a disgusted George Monbiot called it ‘the politics of cruelty’.
This government’s approach to migrants is so disingenuous because the Tory script they all wheel out in interviews dictates the use of inflammatory language like ‘illegals’ (with which the media is often prepared to collude), ‘jumping the queue’ etc when we know that except for those from Hong Kong and Ukraine there have been no ‘legal routes’. Full Fact tweeted: ‘In a video, the Prime Minister said he was “ensuring that the only way to come to the UK for asylum will be through safe and legal routes”. There are currently no safe and legal routes by which to travel to the UK for the purpose of claiming asylum’. We reached a new low this week when the Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party, Lee Anderson, publicly said that asylum seekers not wishing to be housed in barges should ‘f*** off back to France’ and was subsequently defended by his colleagues and the Prime Minister. Not all, though: the Independent reports that some Tories were ‘unnerved by a lurch to the right on immigration’, branding Anderson ‘a fascist peddling cheap populism’. But it could get worse because the government is seriously considering leaving the European Convention on Human Rights, which would put us in the same basket as Russia.
Like Rishi Sunak’s transparent and disingenuous retreat from net zero and issuing of new oil and gas licences, this strategy is another which is cynically about next year’s election. No wonder at least one commentator has asked what kind of prime minister would make such a foolhardy policy just to try and ensure he gets elected next year? But the signs of desperation on the part of many Tory MPs are already clear to see: some of the tweets emanating from such luminaries as Grant Shapps and Greg Hands are just embarrassing, often deflecting onto the Opposition eg claiming to have written to Keir Starmer to condemn what they dishonestly allege as Labour’s role as ‘the political arm of Stop Oil’. But the strategy also smacks of corruption because prior to jetting (!) to Scotland, it was revealed that Sunak’s father in law’s company (Infosys) had done a massive deal with BP and the CEO of Shell also joined Sunak’s new business council, Shell being an Infosys client.
One of the many examples of media collusion with the government is presenters and newsreaders not making clear that the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) policy was not originally London Mayor Sadiq Kahn’s, but Boris Johnson’s, as it had been a condition of receiving pandemic funding for Transport for London in 2020. The expansion is Khan’s policy but there’s good reason for this, not least the tragic deaths of both children and adults living near traffic clogged roads.
But again with this government, self-interest is the order of the day. During their tenure so much has emerged about MPs’ donations from unsavoury sources, and now it’s emerged that during her time as Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers did not declare her extensive shareholding in oil conglomerate Shell. A tweeter again got it in one: ‘Climate change will not be a priority for the Tories, because many of them still receive donations from fossil fuel lobbyists, and secretly own shares in fossil fuel companies. He who pays the politicians, plays the tune’. It’s alarming, too, that following the Sunak constituency house demonstration, Environment Minister Therese Coffey, in her wisdom, stopped DEFRA from engaging with Greenpeace. Greenpeace said Sunak’s government ‘will go down in history as the administration that failed the UK on the climate crisis while ministers pursued a dangerous culture war’. Greenpeace has advised civil servants and contributed to policy for decades and their sudden ejection from the table has caused marked concern within Greenpeace and elsewhere that environmental policy could suffer as a result. It’s also surely proof (like Coffey herself blocking any critics on social media) that this government wants an echo chamber, not divergent views however constructive.
As if all this wasn’t enough, we also had the scandalous situation of the innocent Andrew Malkinson finally released from prison after 17 years being expected to pay back some of his compensation payment for board and lodging during his time inside (a system now overturned), the shocking data breaches at the Electoral Commission and police service of Northern Ireland and yet more emerging about the billions lost to fraud and incompetence by this government. ‘The Labour party said analysis of recently published figures showed that a decline in the value of the Bank of England’s assets – over which the Treasury acts as a guarantor – was a huge loss to taxpayers, “equivalent to 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022, or the entire GDP of Scotland and Wales combined”’ (ie the assets created to rescue the banking sector after the 2008 financial crash are thought to have lost around £251bn in value). The shocking figures were apparently cynically slipped out on 20 July, coinciding with the three byelections and start of the parliamentary recess, so it was obviously calculated to go unnoticed.
The undeniable fact is that this government is wrecking the country and this is terrible for our mental wellbeing: there’s not a single sector of the economy or public life that hasn’t been ruined or seriously disadvantaged by this administration yet we feel powerless to do anything about it while we wait at least another year before getting the opportunity to throw them out. Journalist Raphael Behr put it very succinctly last week. The subject of the article is the asylum seekers policy but his ‘verdict’ applies across the board of government operations.
‘This is what politics looks like between now and the next election. Ministers simulate the business of serious administration but with a singular focus on trapping and unsettling the opposition. The statute book is cluttered with laws drafted for use as campaign slogans, regardless of whether they can be made to work in practice. Here we are all now detained, condemned to the in-between zone where a prime minister has run out of road but not yet arrived at defeat; a country stuck in the purgatory of non-government’.
Meanwhile, it doesn’t stop there: industrial action continues, the RMT and junior doctors scheduling more strikes dates, yet the government in all its ideological intransigence shows no sign of addressing the strikers’ concerns. Unfortunately, with the NHS, it plays into ministers’ hands as their agenda is increasingly clearly to drive the service to collapse at the same time as upping private sector involvement. On top of the marked rise in patients seeking private medical treatment because of long waiting lists (said to have risen to 7.6m but I had read 8.3m somewhere) you might know that the private sector has stepped in to ‘help’ those who can’t afford it, by means of Buy Now Pay Later medical loans. The Observer found that ‘In some cases, firms appear to be aiming their marketing at those desperate for help and low on cash, offering “quick and easy” approval with “immediate” access to funding…One diagnostics firm, MRI Plus, promotes BNPL plans for MRI scans. “Why wait in pain? Slash your waiting time for treatment on the NHS … Book now and pay later with Klarna,” it said in a recent newspaper ad. Patients can delay payment for 30 days or split it into three interest-free instalments’. Right, Bob’s your uncle, then, except these schemes could easily lead the already strapped into debt.
Every week we see further evidence of the need for complete reform of constitutional and parliamentary rules. This week it was found that over £10m was ‘earned’ from MPs second jobs, almost half of which was accounted for by Boris Johnson. The amounts earned continue to rise and nothing is done to stop this when being an MP should be a substantial job in itself, with no time for these additional gigs. Of course we know how these can be accommodated: because they’re not doing their first jobs including responding to constituents, holding constituency surgeries or even visiting the area. ‘The rise in incomes over the past year appears to have been partly driven by a minority of Conservative MPs taking on very highly paid work, from lucrative consultancies to well paid media gigs for the rightwing GB News channel, as well as Rupert Murdoch’s TalkTV’. Apparently a ‘crackdown’ on this racket was promised 18 months ago so what’s happened? Nothing. Labour’s Richard Burgon proposed a bill last year to prevent this taking of second jobs (some even have three or four) but it seems to have come to nothing. I wonder why…. Many will be prepping for losing their seats next year.
Boris Johnson loyalist Nadine Dorries must be the worst case, not having had anything to do with her constituency and not appearing in the House for over a year, yet continuing to bleat about not getting the peerage she’d absurdly been allowed to expect. But instead of resigning so that the mid-Bedfordshire people could be once more represented, she’s hanging on for the salary and in order to cause Rishi Sunak maximum embarrassment when she does finally go. So it’s rather interesting and intriguing that Labour MP Chris Bryant, a lively chap who talks sense, is now citing an 1801 rule compelling Awol MPs to attend Parliament or face a byelection. ‘But Mr (actually now Sir Chris) Bryant said it would be “perfectly legitimate” to table a motion when MPs returns in September saying Ms Dorries, or anyone else who failed to show in the Commons for six months, must attend a date or be suspended for 10 sitting days or more. The proposal is outlined in his new book, Code of Conduct: Why We Need to Fix Parliament – and How to Do It’. Let’s hope he does table that motion. Meanwhile could it be the battle of the books in September? Bryant’s is soon to appear but Nadine’s book (The Plot: The Political Assassination Of Boris Johnson) is set to hit the shelves just days before the Conservative Party conference. Of course there’s nothing cynical about the timing.
What also went down very badly in some quarters was Pensions minister Mel Stride’s suggestion (with no hint of irony) that the ‘economically inactive’ over 50s could get jobs as Deliveroo riders. What does this remind you of? Norman Tebbit and his ‘get on your bike and look for work’. For too long this government has been scapegoating these people (about 8.6m of them, more than 3.4m over 50 but below retirement age), with this label, suggesting, alongside the Bank of England, that they’re putting a strain on the labour market as employers struggle to recruit and that they’re contributing to high inflation. ‘In an interview with the Times during the visit (to London Deliveroo HQ), Stride said these flexible jobs offered “great opportunities” and that it was “good for people to consider options they might not have otherwise thought of”’. How patronizing is that? Can you see Stride and his colleagues taking up such a job in the gig economy, which he idealises for its ‘flexibility’? No, I thought not. Typical Tory stance of recommending for others what they wouldn’t dream of doing themselves, although it won’t be that long before many of them are out of a job. ‘Asked whether he would consider retiring early, Stride, 61, said: “I’m very happy doing what I’m doing at the moment. Of course, as we know in politics, nothing is certain, so who knows where I’ll be in many years’ time – but I very much hope and aspire to be continuing to do this job, because it’s the greatest job in the world.” Good luck with that.
We have to wonder whether Stride saw the revealing and poignant article by a 57 year old, who’d taken such a job. Although Deliveroo reported a 62% increase in couriers over 50 since 2021, the 57 year old interviewee described himself as ‘shattered, constantly tired’, and, not surprisingly, said that the long hours, lack of a pension or holiday pay and occasional violence from the public impacts his mental health. He called Stride’s remarks ‘naïve’ and said it was as if the minister wanted a return to Dickensian working practices. But we can’t be surprised at such complacency as Stride, like so many of his colleagues, has never had a proper job (and having run his own publishing company isn’t the same as working for an employer).
In the Observer Andrew Rawnsley rightly asks: Is this parliament the worst ever? Let’s agree Westminster badly needs reform. There’s something rotten about the state of the Commons. A record number of MPs have been sanctioned and/or resigned their seats in disgrace…. In the past nine months alone, we have seen defenestrations from cabinet of a deputy prime minister, a party chair who had previously been chancellor and a home secretary. This unmagnificent trio is made up of Dominic Raab, Nadhim Zahawi and Suella Braverman… It is not just cabinet names who have brought our politics into disrepute. The rollcall of shame also includes an alarmingly high number of junior ministers and backbenchers. It is a startling fact that more MPs have been sanctioned by the Commons and/or resigned their seats in disgrace in this parliament than in any other in history’. Rawnsley cites a poll which shows that a big majority of the public have become deeply cynical about their elected representatives: no surprise there given the last few years. ‘MPs as a body desperately need to restore public respect and trust. The voters do not expect parliament to be a communion of saints, but it is extremely toxic for our democracy when they think of it as a cesspit of sin’.
News of budget household goods store Wilko’s collapse has hit some hard and the gap it would leave on our high streets could make these resemble even more mouths with broken teeth (boarded up windows etc). While 12k jobs are at risk, one customer described herself as ‘heartbroken’. It could lead to even more uncertainty for the staff that although Wilko (founded in 1930) is in administration they remain trading for now.CEOMark Jackson, said: ‘We left no stone unturned when it came to preserving this incredible business but must concede that, with regret, we’ve no choice but to take the difficult decision to enter into administration. We’ve all fought hard to keep this incredible business intact but must concede that time has run out and now, we must do what’s best to preserve as many jobs as possible, for as long as is possible, by working with our appointed administrators’.
But a different picture emerged behind the scenes, as it emerged that ‘despite its problems, owners of the chain, led by the Wilkinson family, took £3m in dividends in the 12 months to the end of February 2022’. Today it emerged that £77m was paid to the owners and shareholders during the last decade. How is it possible to continue paying dividends when the company is making losses?? According to the GMB union, the company also failed to invest in technology for online shopping so it’s not surprising during difficult economic conditions that these two major factors played a key part in the collapse. Better nip round to your local branch to stock up while you can. One of the surprises during the ensuing debate has been coming across people who have never heard of Wilko – they will have done by now.
Finally, and returning to the opener, the Guardian has written interestingly about the ‘silly season’ concept. ‘In the UK, it’s called the silly season. In Germany it’s the Sommerloch (summer hole); in French la période creuse (the hollow period) or la morte-saison (the dead season) – when an absence of actual news produces an over-abundance of maronniers (perennial media chestnuts).In Dutch – and other languages, including Danish and Polish – the period is called, for reasons not entirely clear, cucumber time: komkommertijd, agurketid, sezon ogórkowy’. In the UK this year there’s so much news, mostly undesirable and occasioned by this government, that it seems we have no ‘cucumber time’ right now. We can but hope, though, as we’re promised better weather for the rest of August and the extended parliamentary recess should ensure that at least some of the incumbents keep schtum!
Politics and mental health - the missing link? 