22-07-10 - Sunday I - Interesting Times

Well, that was quite the week. The PM stood down, there was #JohnsonWatch on Twitter (that was my hashtag, picked up by absolutely nobody), and now the leadership candidates are beginning to emerge. It's quite entertaining to watch, but unfortunately we all know it's going to end horribly, with one of them in the position of Prime Minister. I long for a period of uncontroversial government, with some joined up thinking and maybe some long-term planning thrown in, but somehow I don't think that's what we're going to get. So what else is there to do but laugh as it all goes pear-shaped to an even greater degree than we ever thought possible? 

This current lot have been in power for the last twelve years; they are the "natural party of government", apparently, and yet they keep screwing up. I despair sometimes. I crave boring politics; as David Allen Green says regularly, constitutional politics should be boring, and I feel the same about UK domestic politics in general: we should be able to predict what our MPs will do in any given circumstance, and outcomes should be expected and dull. But unfortunately that hasn't been the case since Brexit. 

Cameron, when he was first elected, seemed quite sensible. Unfortunately Osborne implemented a policy of austerity which didn't work out how they expected it to work out, and certainly those who needed looking after weren't looked after, but it does seem that the candidates for the PM role are all promising Austerity #2. It's a shame that the party don't want to elect someone with broader appeal who might be able to build a consensus. So we'll have to enjoy the bits we can laugh at, and try to ignore the wider emerging horror. 

TTFN.