Every day in British politics feels like watching a very slow-moving car crash. One of those ones you watch repeatedly on YouTube as a car loses control on an icy slope and careens ever so slowly into car after car. For months that’s been the premiership of Boris Johnson. You can write the newspaper headlines days out. You know exactly how the story will go because the same mistakes, the same bunker mentality results in the same outcome. Political carnage and then usually a U-turn.
The government even manages to make the same mistake twice - Exhibit A & B: Marcus Rashford and his campaign for free school meals during vacation time. Yes, the government has an alternative of sorts but the lack of anticipation and the subsequent communication has been woeful. And it’s happened TWICE !
It’s as if No 10 is occupied by an sadomasochistic cult - the enemy within that wants to destroy a political party along with the integrity of the UK at the same time.
It’s the integrity of the UK I want to dwell on in this piece because almost everything else can be reversed. But not this headlong rush to alienate the nations that make up our Union and, this week, the major cities and regions of England.
These are unprecedented times. Usually, that expression is deployed needlessly, becoming a cliche but in this case it’s true. In so many respects the Prime Minister and Ministers ARE making the right decisions but almost without fail they are made in the wrong way.
It’s a fundamental truth that good leaders take people with them. They consult, they prepare, they convince, they corral. When they move forward they are surrounded by supporters. The cruel nature of COVID-19 made, for the longest time, physical presence challenging. But that’s not been the case since mid-Summer, the Prime Minister has managed a few hi-viz jacket visits around the country even getting to Orkney but he’s yet to bring together the leaders of the devolved nations.
They are politicians, they have fragile egos, they want to be loved. Pathetic yes. A fact of life also yes.
I admit sitting down, even when socially distanced with Drakeford, Sturgeon and Foster would not be the top of my favourite things to do but then I’m not Prime Minister.
We always knew the winter would be tough but surely that would make getting the nations, the regions, and the cities in lockstep all the more vital. What is the UK government for if it’s not to tackle, the things that are in the ‘national interest’?
Why has the Prime Minister allowed the 4 nations of the UK to have such divergent approaches to dealing with this pandemic? The people of Wales wakened up today unable to buy clothes, games, even books because the Welsh government has deemed them “not essential”.
In Scotland, you can’t have an alcoholic drink with your meal when staying in a hotel.
This is lunacy.
The devolved governments have been allowed to do a massive land grab under the cover of COVID and in so doing they have not only pushed the UK to the brink but they have confused and endangered the population through a myriad of contradictory policies and communications.
The Prime Minister has allowed this to happen.
Why, in the summer, did he not bring the heads of government and the mayors together. To discuss and own the challenge and the solution together. To speak with one voice. A large marquee on the lawns of Chequers. That would have been a better use of canvass than the bizarre spectacle of a tent pitched in the wilds of Scotland for an aborted Prime Ministerial vacation.
We needed a ‘big tent’ approach and instead, we have a submarine - surfacing only for the occasional briefing which usually confuses rather than reassures. Throughout all of this, the only bright spot has been the Chancellor.
It is now time to reset the relationship between Westminster and the rest of the country - not with another set of distant constitutional changes but NOW with a Prime Minister who can pull people together and unite us in the common pursuit of tackling COVID-19, healing and recovering.
The Prime Minister has weeks to make this happen, not months - we need clarity before Christmas. If he can’t do it then someone else needs to.
“A house divided against itself cannot stand”.
About the Author
Mark was involved in the Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party from 1987 - 1998 as a member, Parliamentary Researcher, Special Advisor, and Parliamentary Candidate (1997). After a 10 year break when he was living and working in New York he resumed his membership in 2009.