‘Sensible, honest government would be a good start after 14 years of stupidity’

‘A MYSTERY WHY HE WANTED THE JOB’: A rain-soaked Rishi Sunak announcing the election. Picture credit: Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street

The Accidental Diplomat, a column by Paul Knott

Britain needs rebuilding for the benefit of everyone

Former American President Barack Obama once described his foreign policy as being “don’t do stupid stuff”.

The new British government that will take charge after the general election on July 4 should use this phrase to guide everything they do. They will also need some good plans and to work hard to repair the damage caused to Britain by the stupid stuff the Tories have done during their fourteen years in power.

This Tory chaos started with David Cameron and George Osborne’s austerity programme, which wrecked public services and pushed millions of people into poverty. It went on to include Boris Johnson’s Covid parties, lying, law-breaking, laziness and incompetence. Then came Liz Truss crashing the economy in less time than it takes a lettuce to wilt. Finally, it left us with Rishi Sunak, a man who had such a nice life that it remains a mystery why he wanted to swop it for a job, Prime Minister, he is so embarrassingly bad at.

The consequences of these years of idiocy are clear to see in everyday things like the state of the roads, the sewage-filled rivers and the NHS. There are also many things that are less visible to most of us, such as the decayed state of Britain’s armed forces at such a dangerous time in the world.

‘A CONSEQUENCE OF IDIOCY’: Sewage being discharged into the River Pant in Essex. Picture credit: Robin Webster

Simply having a new government that is focused on running things honestly and sensibly for the good of the country will improve the situation. It will show businesses that Britain is back as a reliable country to invest in. This will generate some economic growth and money for the government to spend on public services. But repairing the damage completely is going to take much more than that too.

As well as the usual main parties and those focused mostly on Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, some smaller ones are also running for election to parliament. The Greens have some good ideas on environmental issues, both national (the water supply) and global (climate change). If they succeed in having a few MPs elected, they will help to keep the government focused on these crucial matters at a time when they could easily be distracted by other problems.

“Reform” (the latest name for UKIP) is not strictly a political party. It is organised as a company owned by Nigel Farage to serve the money-spinning self-promotion of Nigel Farage. Consequently, it has not produced any serious plan for government, just a list of attention-seeking statements and made-up numbers designed to get Farage on the telly as often as possible.

Of the bigger parties, the Tories are struggling the most. Any government that has been in power for fourteen years is judged on its record. Which is a problem for the Tories because they have made everything in Britain worse since they took power.

There is also the sense that if the Tories had any good ideas, they would have used them by now. As a result, all they seem to have left are some slogans borrowed from an angry bloke at the end of the bar. Bring back national service! Stop the boats! The return of hanging and flogging will probably be next. Although one problem with that would be that the Tories have run down the police and justice system so badly that hardly any criminals get caught these days anyway.

In about sixty seats, most of them in the South of England, the Liberal Democrats are the main challengers to the Tories. They deserve credit for making bold proposals to tackle some of the most difficult problems facing Britain today. These ideas include the strongest plan of any major party for tackling climate change and helping households to convert to green energy. They also go furthest in their proposals to repair the damage done by Brexit, with the aim of eventually rejoining the EU’s Single Market.

The Lib Dems’ proposals to completely rebuild Britain’s social care system are perhaps of greatest interest to the most people. These ideas are partly informed by their leader, Ed Davey’s, personal experience of caring for his Mum, who died of cancer when he was a teenager, and his disabled son, John. They include a huge increase in social care services and more support for people who are caring for ill and elderly family members.

Labour, though, are the likeliest party to replace the Tories as the next government. Some think that Keir Starmer and his colleagues are being too cautious in their campaign. Their approach risks disappointing the many people who want big changes and failing to inspire them to vote. It could also backfire in government because they will need a lot of public support and patience to give them time to fix the problems left behind by the Tories.

‘DESERVES CREDIT’: Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, pictured dancing on the campaign trail

But on closer inspection, Labour’s plans for government are probably the most wide-ranging and well thought out of any of the parties standing in the election. This reflects Labour’s belief that Britain does not need any more colourful “characters” stirring up culture wars. Instead, it needs some calm and serious hard work by capable people to rebuild its public services, economy and standard of living.

Labour’s detailed plans are based around the idea of “security”. They mean this in the obvious sense of creating better protection against crime and the threat of war.  But most of all they mean helping people to obtain better job, financial and housing security. They also plan to repair our crumbling and often unsafe schools, hospitals, transport system and water supplies.

Labour’s specific proposals to achieve these aims include a National Wealth Fund to encourage investment in new, job-creating industries, “the biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation” and an end to abusive employment practices such as “zero hours contracts” and “fire and rehire”.

Labour winning a comfortable majority, with a sizeable Liberal Democrat and Green presence in parliament, presents the best chance of Britain being rebuilt for the benefit of everyone. And, if nothing else, it would at least give us a sensible government that does not do stupid stuff.