May: No Longer Governing

Something different is happening. In the past Britain had a reputation for strong and reliable government. You may not like the policies of the party in power, but they were applied through due process and either worked well or not so well. The government was united in its endevours, supported by a majority in parliament and held together by Cabinet responsibility.

None of this is now happening. The governing party is at war within itself, the cabinet is split asunder by Brexit, austerity and many other issues. Nobody knows what kind of Brexit is coming, whether policies announced will ever come into effect, like £20 billion for the NHS, enough money to maintain our defence programme, a third runway at Heathrow, no hard borders, funding for social care, improvements in education, the list is long and growing. Yet in not a single case does the government seem able or even willing to deliver. The reason is that no party so riven by disagreement, with Cabinet ministers openly attacking each other across the media and rubbishing policies which they are supposed to be supporting, can actually govern. It becomes an un-government, which is what we have now.

How long the country can cope with being un-governed we do not know, because we have not been here before. However we can, all of us whatever our allegiances,  unite around one verity. This cannot go on for much longer.