Life imitates art for Zelensky but UK fiasco is no laughing matter
As Boris Johnson clings on at No10 after resigning, would-be successors look just as bad while Labour option is not much better
THERE’S a scene in Volodymyr Zelensky’s satirical TV show, Servant of the People, where the defeated President of Ukraine refuses to step down and barricades himself in the presidential office.
As the ordinary teacher-turned unexpected President, Zelensky’s character Vasily Petrovych Golobrodko volunteers to go in to coax the former president out and convinces him it’s time to go. I wonder perhaps if Zelensky felt life imitating art when Boris Johnson reportedly called him on Thursday afternoon, holed up in 10 Downing Street as his Prime Ministership fell to bits around him.
The twists and turns of the past week have had journalists and commentators in a tizzy but the reality is this latest episode of the failing British state is a tragedy rather than a comedy.
The Chancellor resigning, stating in his letter that he couldn’t go ahead with a shared press conference on the economy because the differences between he and the Prime Minister were too great, speaks to a significant disconnect at the heart of the UK Government. Yet the plot running behind this shows Rishi Sunak had registered his prime ministerial campaign website last year. I have to wonder how many of the early signs of the cost-ofliving crisis have been overlooked amid the ambitions of Tory MPs to unseat their leader. In the flurry of slick videos and social media endorsements, the crisis facing many across these islands isn’t mentioned at all.
Tax cuts pandering to those already doing well and the shrinking of the state won’t help put food on the table or heat people’s homes this winter.
Regardless of which contender finally grasps the keys to 10 Downing Street, it will still be the same Conservative party which brought us cuts to Universal Credit in a cost-of-living crisis and the despicable Nationality and Borders Bill which exiles vulnerable asylum seekers to Rwanda.
The Labour Party’s alternative offer this week doesn’t inspire; both they and the Tories are now committed Brexiteer parties.
Labour back Brexit, which is pushing up prices and causing damage to our economy.
I’m deeply sceptical about Anas Sarwar’s proposal for a “legal duty” to force the Scottish and UK governments to cooperate.
We all know, this is not a partnership of equals. Westminster has already given itself the power to overrule devolution through the Tory Internal Market Act, which allows Westminster to strike down Scottish Government environmental policies like preventing fracking and health policies such as Minimum Unit Pricing on alcohol. And in claiming Labour will abolish the House of Lords – they’ve been promising that for around a century and haven’t got round to it yet.
The Tory Government caving in on itself on Thursday wasn’t just an indictment of one political party; it’s of a whole system which isn’t fit for purpose.
The next prime minister will effectively be decided by the Conservative 1922 Committee of MPs. This is what happens in failed states with an autocrat and no written constitution. Scotland, we can do so much better than this.
Both the Labour and Tories are committed Brexiteer parties