Conservative government: What next?

 Conservative Government: What next?

Since the days of Boris Johnson and in spite of then then 80 seat majority, the Conservative Administration has been plagued by both issues that they could not possible foresee and control and by situations that arose because of measures they took that turned into yet another crisis.

The Covid Pandemic declared in March 2020 put everybody to the test and lockdown measures adopted to apparently tackle the pandemic generated a whole new series of issues, increasing divisions within the Conservative Government. It was about 'Lockdown or no Lockdown'. 

The start of declared hostilities in Ukraine was yet another test. Sanctions against the Russian Federation backfired and produced an energy crisis that destabilized the British Economy. The long standing stability with low prices and low interest rates gave way to higher interest rates and higher prices that in turn produced a series of strikes and forced the government to add more protection measures on top of the protective measures adopted during Lockdown to prevent a sudden rise in unemployment due to lack of economic activity.

Once the government started to regain control the crisis in Palestine opened a whole new can of worms. The fact that people immediately took sides reflects the tribal nature of Britain and this, unavoidably, led to yet another reshuffle to try and have some kind of equilibrium both in national terms and in terms of geopolitics.

All the way, from Covid, going through Lockdown, sanctions against the Russian Federation that led to rising inflation and the present issues involving Palestine, fractures within political parties became fairly visible. It is like walking on a high rope without a balancing pole. As the saying goes, 'keep your friends close and your foes even closer'. Loyalties are being tested to destruction. If Britain were to be involved in a real war tomorrow morning, this is a government that is struggling to survive until the next General Election due to take place in May 2024 and that will not be capable of dealing with war at home and war abroad. What would a General Election in 2024 achieve? For starters, it could be change, even if it is change for change sake. Having said that, when you look at what is happening across the home nations, political realities are much too complex to be able to foresee what the outcome of a General Election would be. 

North of the border, at times it looks like the SNP will collapse. At times it looks like any expectations about the demise of the SNP are very much an exaggeration. In Wales, the Labour administration might be unpopular, but then people might decide to stick to what they have got for fear of worse political realities. In Northern Ireland, political paralysis is a reality with Sinn Fein winning spaces and without a cross party agreement to return to the Northern Ireland Assembly. In England, the mainstream political parties are fragmented depending on what are the most important issues according to regions.

There are far too many issues that generate divisions both in terms of national politics and of international politics. You cannot promise one thing to please one side without alienating another side and you don't have the luxury of being vague in terms of where you stand politically.