If the pessimist says, “Things can’t get any worse” and the optimist replies, “Oh yes they can”, where does that leave the Prime Minister? Rishi Sunak called this snap election to get a hearing from the British people, but the longer it goes on, the less they appear to be listening.
A record seven in 10 Britons do not like the Conservative Party, according to an exclusive Ipsos poll for the Standard. The survey also shows that four in 10 now believe that Sir Keir Starmer is ready to be prime minister, up from 33 per cent in May. Remarkably, more people are dissatisfied with the Government than even in 1979 after the Winter of Discontent, when rubbish was piling up in the streets and dead bodies were left unburied.
This screeching ballad of discontent cannot be entirely attributed to Sunak, who has only been leader for the last two of the Conservatives’ 14 years in office. Boris Johnson’s lockdown-busting parties, Liz Truss’s disastrous “mini-Budget” and the inexorably slow economic puncture that is Brexit are all contributing factors. More recently, Tory candidates accused of placing bets on the date of the election will not necessarily have helped either.
Still, from D-Day retreats to getting soaked in the rain, the remaining Conservative voters may reasonably ask themselves: whatever next?
Holidays from hell
Another summer, another UK airport IT catastrophe. Yesterday, Heathrow was left in chaos and passengers stranded on planes following a technical issue at Terminal 5. Travellers described how “all hell broke loose” as baggage went missing, with one claiming they were advised to “go home” by British Airways. The issue, which has since been resolved, will continue to ripple into today.
Running an airport is hardly a straightforward endeavour. Technology is prone to failure. Yet it is not unreasonable that passengers should expect to be reunited with their luggage at the end of a flight. Moreover, issues such as this once more call into question the resilience of UK airports, whether it be e-gates or luggage systems going down. At some point, passengers would like to feel that lessons are at least being learned.
Get set for Glasto
Paddington Station was a sea of enthusiastic young (and not so young) people this morning, happily making their way to Glastonbury. Festival-goers can expect warm and settled weather as they enjoy the delights of Dua Lipa, SZA and Coldplay, while Shania Twain will play the legends slot. All the fun of the fair.
