A deep, sometimes toxic contradiction has long sat at the heart of Conservative politics, and thanks to Boris Johnson’s government it is now more visible than ever.
Brexit has replaced frictionless trade with Europe with a nightmare of form-filling, surcharges and red tape. The benefits system is seemingly designed to be a bureaucratic mess of inexplicable rules and regulations, so impossible to navigate that people are thereby incentivised to stay well away from it. Getting to see a doctor or dentist now feels much the same. And there is another, rather more overlooked example of how the promise of choice and a responsive state is all too often nullified by its exact opposite, which is about to become even more glaring: England’s system of provision for children and young people with special educational needs.
