The starting gun has been fired and the long anticipated race to Downing Street has begun. General elections are always a time of heightened emotion, with the whole spectrum on display, from the good, to the bad, to the downright ugly. However, more than anything general elections engender in us a feeling of fluidity and change. What better way to start off the next six weeks of campaign fever than to examine the last five years, and inspect the issues at stake on July 4.
The year is 2019, and Boris Johnson has just won the biggest Conservative majority since Thatcher. He promised to ‘forge a new Britain’ by getting Brexit done, building 40 new hospitals, eschewing tax rises, reaching net zero by 2050, and putting 20,000 new police officers on our streets. The question is, five long years later, what have those shiny promises have done for us?
Well, a new Britain has certainly been forged. But it is one in decline, marred by social division. Of the promises above, bar Brexit, none were kept. The 40 new hospitals turned out to largely be refurbishments, the 20,000 new police officers promise was kept in name only, as those hired but belatedly replaced the 20,000 cut under austerity. The net zero by 2050 promise was abandoned, then lampooned, by the very party who promised it. As for the promise of no new tax rises… we have all felt the lie in our wallets, and know it represents the highest tax burden in 50 years.
On top of the abandonment of promises, the last five years have exposed the desperately dysfunctional Tory party in all its viciousness. The prime ministerial churn of the supposed ‘natural party of government’ could give Italy a run for its money. The ‘sick man of Europe’ moniker is entirely applicable, and has earned British democracy gleeful ridicule even by friendly autocracies like Singapore. In the last couple of years alone we have had three prime ministers, four chancellors, four foreign secretaries and six home secretaries. This revolving door has wreaked havoc and allowed uncertainty to take the reins. No sooner would a minister understand their brief than be booted from cabinet or shuffled across Whitehall.
And let us not forget, the last five years of Tory rule have been defined by corruption and sleaze, from the Prime Minister to the lowliest back bencher. No end of books and television series could be written on the last few years’ scandals. For brevity’s sake let’s remind ourselves of Partygate, the most unforgivable of them all. When we were all obeying Covid rules, keeping away from loved ones and dying relatives, and when the late Queen herself couldn’t be comforted by family at her husband’s funeral the Tories partied in No. 10. Fines were issued to the biggest names, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak included, for breaching their own laws.
What does all this show? It shows a party that after 14 years in power feels they can do as they please. It shows their contempt for the electorate they are supposed to represent and serve. Above all it shows their insular, self-centred, inward looking ethos. The election on July 4 is an opportunity for change. No doubt it will be a nasty campaign, but this may well be repaid with the national renewal we so dearly need. So remember to register to vote, and go have your voice heard!
Image: knezovjb
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