I agree, that makes sense…if the unpopularity was forseen as part a plan to get all of the bad news out early. And whether you agreed with what her vision was or not, one can’t deny that Thatcher had a clear vision of what she wanted to achieve and,more importantly, had a team and a plan to deliver it. Much as Bliar did in ‘97.
The difference this time is that there is no end in sight to the bad news. And little hope of any good news in the next couple of years, which is all they’ve got before we are into the pre election cycle again. And that’s because they came into power without a real plan, or any policies. Policy is being made up on the fly.
We are approaching the chancellors second budget in a worse place than for the first, the causes of which are almost all self inflicted. They are doing it having lost the self claimed moral high ground with their embarrassing levels of cronyism. But also having lost any shred of financial competence in either their own affairs or those of the country, all while willing if not downright eager to take bribes, sorry, gifts and freebies.
And then there’s the small matter of announcing a raft of ‘one time’ increases in tax that would definitely not be repeated, without foreseeing the destruction of any prospects of growth. And yet here we are, staring down the barrel of another £60 billion of either tax rises or spending cuts. So far the cuts have been watered down so much they are just a rounding, and the changes to VAT and CGT have raised almost nothing…indeed, in the case of VAT caused a net outflow.
Granted the Trump effect hasn’t helped, but the Government’s approach to that unravelled almost has fast as the glory of what a good deal they’d done was trumpeted. We have another couple of years of a capricious and lunatic Trump, and our Government doesn’t know how to handle him. Now, anyone would have a tough job…but you only have to look at how Carney or Modi has dealt with him to see what could be done. We’ve got Starmer, who has no position on anything and blows with the wind, and Mandleson. So aren’t we lucky!
The Government decries, quite rightly, the rabble raising populist approach of Farage, ignoring the fact that their approach to the election was also a populist one. Pledging that the electorate could have everything, that it won’t cost any more and taxes definitely won’t rise, and that they’d be a serious government doing serious things. Now they are in power their lack of preparedness is laid bare, and they are upset that the populism has swung away from them to another bunch of untrustworthy politicians. Like all politicians, they hate not being in the limelight…a bit like actors ;)