The next few weeks will be dominated by much political froth, lots of it meaningless (mandatory National Service, for goodness sake!) but some if it damaging ( eg as was Ed Miliband's bacon sandwich). Whatever distractions the parties and press conjure up, it is essential for us to have at the front of our minds just how awful the government of Britain has been for the past fourteen years, and for that reason alone it is high time for "the others" to take over.
Here's a list of reminders.
Lowlights of 14 years of Tory rule
Welfare:
Two child limit.
Premature axing of £20 Universal Credit supplement
Closure of Sure Start Centres.
Promised to end no-fault evictions 2019: by 2024, hadn’t had time.
Constitutional
Illegal proroguing of parliament.
Breaking of international law (in a strict and limited way?)
Contempt for the dignity and rights of refugees and asylum seekers.
Threats to leave the ECHR.
Rash of rash appointments to House of Lords.
Resignations of Permanent Secretaries.
Backlog in courts. (Justice delayed is justice denied)
Inhumane conditions in overcrowded prisons. (two people with unshielded lavatory confined to a cell designed for one for up to 23 hours a day.)
End of the “good chaps” theory of government.
Domestic Economy
Savage cuts to local government finance.
Abuse of “levelling up” money (some to Sunak’s constituency).
Hardest possible Brexit....
Bidding system for government grants.
Vanity Projects – HS2, Hinkley Point.
World Economy
Cuts in overseas aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP.
Use of up to a third of that to house refugees in UK...
Incompetence
Grenfell Tower disaster.
Grenfell Tower enquiry (delays).
Post Office Scandal (and delays with enquiry).
Pandemic
Slow start to lockdown.(Johnson glad-handing; Cheltenham Festival went ahead).
Test and Trace.
Eat out to help out.
VIP procurement…….
Contempt for their own rules: Partygate, Dominic Cummings’s trip to the North East to “test eyes.”
The “Truss Debacle”
Trashing of UK’s international financial reputation.
Subsequent higher interest rates and hikes in mortgage repayments.
Inadequate Regulation
Of banking system (2008 crash).
Of water companies (sewerage in rivers).
Planned "affordable" new house builds not delivered.
Environment/Global Heating
Licences granted for exploration of fossil fuels in North Sea.
Backward steps in democracy
Totally unnecessary ID cards required for voting.
Second preference vote for Mayors and Crime Commissioners discontinued.
Harassment of BBC.
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