The chaotic unravelling of Liz Truss’ brief premiership surely represents a new low for British politics. In a few short years a state that in living memory had run the biggest empire in world history has become nothing short of an international embarrassment.
Having happily elevated a narcissistic buffoon to the highest office in the land, his downfall paved the way for a political minnow without leadership or presentational skills to take power. It’s no surprise that Ms Truss will be the shortest-serving British Prime Minister of all time.
From the moment she allowed her name to go forward, such a fate was inevitable. But the parlous state of British politics is about far more than the election of one low calibre leader.
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The scenes in the House of Commons on Wednesday evening, when backbench Tory MPs were being bullied and physically jostled into voting for the Government over the fracking issue, were unprecedented. Long-serving party loyalists were in some cases reduced to tears as they found themselves cajoled to vote for a proposition that went against the manifesto they were elected on.
A number, clearly devastated by what was going on, spoke eloquently of the way talentless individuals more concerned about their personal careers than the wellbeing of their party or country had destroyed the notion of public service that brought them into politics.
Such views were especially prevalent among old school Tory traditionalists, whose ingrained belief was that the Conservative Party offered above all an honourable form of stability. Trouble was brewing from the moment grassroots party members decided to override the decision of the MPs to prefer Rishi Sunak over Liz Truss.
Mr Sunak couldn’t have been clearer during the leadership contest when he pointed out that the tax-cutting measures being proposed by Truss would further damage Britain’s reputation for economic probity - which had already taken a knock because of Brexit. He didn’t, of course, make the latter point.
Accurate as Mr Sunak’s prediction was, it wasn’t what the majority of Conservative Party members wanted to hear. As well as insisting robotically that lowering taxes is always the right course to pursue, they blame Mr Sunak and Sajid Javid for supposedly stabbing Boris Johnson in the back and forcing his resignation.
Like deluded advocates of an absurd conspiracy theory, they overlook the fact that Mr Johnson broke the law during the pandemic, presided over a government that awarded Covid contracts to cronies and overlooked the sexual misdemeanours of the government’s deputy chief whip.
Economic good sense hasn’t been at the centre of Tory philosophy for quite some time or they wouldn’t have endorsed Brexit, but upsetting the markets to the extent they have under Liz Truss has been quite an achievement.
When a Financial Times correspondent compares the political instability of the UK with that of Italy, whose governments have had a tendency to be weak and short-lived for decades, it’s clear that something has gone seriously wrong. As the correspondent pointed out, Italy at least has the consolations of sunny weather and excellent food.
Since Ms Truss became Prime Minister, barely a day has passed when some troubling new revelation has not dominated the headlines. The cost-of-living crisis predated her arrival in the top job, but a seemingly endless succession of sub-plots and senseless diversions has made it loom all the larger.
Ms Truss was convinced that the decision to pay part of households’ energy bills would become a game changer. In fact, it changed nothing.
No sooner was an announcement of such help made than homeowners were made aware of massive increases to their mortgage bills as a result of interest rates rising.
She also sought to exploit outdated views of trade unionists as wreckers whose strike action prevents normal workers from reaching their place of employment.
Her last roll of the dice entailed drawing on this redundant piece of Tory mythology in a bid to put the blame for the UK’s economic problems on the shoulders of union members.
Such attempts have had traction in the past, but the 1980s are a long time ago and polls show that most people recognise striking rail workers as having a legitimate interest in not seeing the real value of their salaries diminish. In that sense, they have become the new “people like us” beloved of Daily Mail editors.
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While there’s a temptation to see recent events, including the partygate revelations, the tragedy and upheaval of Covid and the unprecedented scenes at Westminster as an intense form of political soap opera, the reality is that most people’s lives are being impacted negatively by the ongoing crises.
For more than the most vulnerable - who in normal circumstances can be “othered” at times of difficulty - there are harsh challenges to confront. Politics ceases to be a compartmentalised aspect of life that can be ignored while we pursue our chosen interests. Its implications hit us hard and cannot be disregarded.
Everyone is having to consider in a way they may not have done before how to balance their personal budgets. Life has always been tough for the poorest. Now it’s becoming tougher for those further up the social ladder, and unsurprisingly they don’t like it.
Watching a Prime Minister who is clearly out of her depth struggling to express herself and failing to convince the public that she knows what she is doing is deeply unsettling when you are worried about whether you can afford the next mortgage payment.
The frequent demonisation of whole groups of people - workers, immigrants, asylum seekers, benefit claimants - many of whom are also workers - and others has created a toxic atmosphere that is corrosive to our social fabric.
Such negativity has increased massively since the EU referendum campaign in 2016 and the long-drawn-out Brexit that has followed. The decision to leave the EU was, as others have asserted, a monumental act of self-harm. It spawned the populism that has poisoned our politics to this day.
Now is the time to leave behind this squalid chapter in our shared history and build something better.
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