Budget day in Ireland, April 1970. A Dublin evening paper headlines that Finance Minister, Charles Haughey, is delivering his speech in Dáil Éireann. Only he didn’t as he’d either taken a tumble from his horse or been whacked over the head in a pub – take your choice – either way he was in hospital with concussion and Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, made the speech for him. This morning, like that newspaper I’m taking a chance.
Great Creator, who on Sunday
From Thy perfect work didst rest,
Now hast given us Theresa May.
Let’s wait and see if she’ll stand the test.
(with apologies to Julia Elliott)
Yesterday the Labour party were calling for an election – a General Election. The parliamentary Labour Party aren’t so keen on having a leadership election now that Jeremy is on the ballot paper. So let’s have an election, but only the right kind of election. I expect Jeremy Corbyn to retain his leadership and speculate what the parliamentary party will then do.
The Conservatives have denied their grassroots members the chance to choose a new leader. This is pragmatic as it would have been divisive and a waste of time and money running a Leadsom v May race. Assuming Theresa May takes office today and stays in office until 2020 then the whole electorate, or those that can be bothered to vote, can judge her on her record after an extremely testing four years.
In the short-term a weak pound seems benign. Foreign holidays cost more but FTSE has rallied. The latter because many FTSE 100 shares derive their earnings outside the UK. It takes time for poison to take effect. The poison is the higher cost of imports, which will raise prices and fuel inflation. The toxic choice for Mrs May and her Chancellor is between cutting government spending (austerity) and borrowing at higher interest rates as the UK credit rating slips; this against a background of lower tax revenue as the economy shrinks. That’s what politicians have to do. It’s dull but it’s deadly serious, especially for the least well-off in the country who are in the firing line, literally.
Ken Clarke (needs no intro) and Warren East (CEO of Rolls-Royce and super good egg) were both interviewed yesterday and said virtually the same thing – we are where we are, so let’s make the best of it.
Hi ho, May every cloud have a silver lining.
I am not as content as you that the Tory party membership are being denied a say in the choice of leader. Our MPs should have put forward two credible candidates and they failed to do so. Both major parties lack sufficient unity of purpose to be fit to govern under the Westminster model. I hope I am wrong but I cannot see that Mrs May will fare any better than her predecessor. If we are to continue with first past the post we need a realignment of the parties to bring together an elected majority of MPs who share sufficient polices to be able to govern without having endlessly to change course to placate a minority clique within their party.
As usual you make a good point. I would opt to solve the problem by abandoning first past the post, thereby creating the conditions for a multi-party system which would better reflect the varied opinions of the electorate.
I visited a call centre in Birmingham yesterday. It provides advice and support to those leaving the British Armed Forces who are seeking civilian employment. It does important work and is manned by good people.
I asked the 14 staff what they thought about Brexit; all but one supported leaving. None of the 13 mentioned immigration and all were unhappy with Brussels. They sensed my leaning but were firm in theirs.
Birmingham is not the Northern Powerhouse and neither is it a Shire. I was surprised at what I heard but at the same time more accepting of the Referendum decision. So hurray for Ms May and tally ho with life outside the EU. The time for holding up is past.
I admire your new-found enthusiasm for what will be a perilous project. If it can be managed while maintaining economic growth, well and good. I agree with you that we must make the best of it so tally ho and let’s hope the fences and ditches aren’t too stiff for us.