Made the UK

As a child from a migrant family growing up in England, I used to think that British politicians were highly esteemed people of reverence. With the exception of a handful of political icons like Shirley Williams and Tony Benn et al., I have long since realised that the calibre of British politicians and national governance overall, has fallen rapidly in recent decades.

Though, who would have thought that things could have got this bad?

Boris Johnson and his malfunctioning Cabinet have caused embarrassment both domestically and internationally for many. Official polls suggest that Boris’ popularity is at an all time low. This is unusual for a populist. Despite the endless accusations of lies and incompetence, the Great British public repeatedly lapped up his bad character record time and time again. For several years, he could do no wrong in the eyes of the majority. It would seem that for now at least, there is one sleaze story too many and some of his supporters aren’t impressed.

Time will tell whether his back benchers have any success with their no confidence letters. With the reputation of the Conservative Party at stake, several of their MPs are trying to trigger a leadership contest. We may yet witness an internal coup with many among the Party seeking to hang Boris out to dry.

And if things weren’t bad enough, in October, a cross-party parliamentary Committee found that this Government’s handling of the Covid crisis was the “worst public health failure, ever.” The worst public health failure in modern political history is somewhat of a legacy, especially disturbing as much of it was avoidable but for their ‘too little too late’ style of politics.

Brexit (which has become a taboo!) has been shambolic. The UK has shortages of the most vital products and services – (food, fuel, NHS beds, haulage drivers) which the EU and the USA rightfully place at our door. ‘Only yourselves to blame’ is the cutting message coming out of those regions.

Why the Tory government succumbed to the right wing rhetoric of Nigel Farage and put the country and himself into this period of downfall, only David Cameron will know? And worse still, why did they fail to prepare for the shortages, most of which were inevitable? Evidently, four and a half years from the referendum to our departure from the EU on the 31st January 2020 (and an additional transition period until 31 December 2020) wasn’t long enough to get our proverbial house into order.

Things do not look likely to improve imminently but we can get back on track sooner rather than later with sound economic and political policies.

How does this fare for our businesses that want to trade abroad? Not well, I would suggest. Boris Johnson and his predecessor have arguably damaged the UK brand. Many countries saw the UK as a laughing stock rather than a panacea during the handling of the pandemic. The decisions made here (late lockdowns, late border closures and mask wearing fiascos culminating in the Prime Minister getting seriously ill himself), reverberated throughout the rest of the world who had watched on in the hope of emulating the UK as a beacon for best practice. Unfortunately, that beacon had long blown out and there was nothing to see here.

’Made in the UK’ just doesn’t have the appeal it once had, does it?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/nov/06/boris-johnsons-poll-ratings-slump-to-record-low-after-owen-paterson-affair

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/boris-johnson-no-confidence-leadership-contest-b1963345.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58876089

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/oct/03/only-yourselves-to-blame-uks-shortages-seen-from-abroad