Opinion: They make rules which apply to us all

Oh well, they might say, we all do it from time to time. We forget, we stumble, we make mistakes. While it’s true that no one is infallible, there is a higher standard expected of those who lead us, particularly those who set our laws in the first place.

You would have thought the Tories would have learned their lesson from “Partygate”. Lest we forget, while the Queen mourned alone due to Covid restrictions, Boris Johnson and his acolytes made merry and consumed alcohol while the pandemic raged. Had you or I done the same and been caught, we would have been heavily fined. This was not so long ago.

Given this, you would think the Prime Minister would be sensitive to the notion that there is one rule for the elite and another for everyone else. If not him, then you would expect his staff to think it through. Apparently not. He was slow to act on Nadim Zahawi’s tax affairs; indeed, given the cloud that hung over Zahawi in the first place, you have to wonder why he hired him.

When a government has been in power for too long, it can make lazy assumptions about it being indispensable or worse, irreplaceable. This government is neither: as time goes on, and its policy set grows ever staler and scandals mount, it becomes ever more necessary to get rid of it. The Tories have shielded themselves from this realisation with red boxes, foreign junkets, and ministerial cars. However, as I work with my constituents, it becomes ever clearer that we are being badly governed. Their being completely out of touch is a big part of the problem.

Say what you will about Labour politicians, but most of the ones I know come from modest backgrounds; to get on in life, I have had to lift myself up. I didn’t do it alone: I had the benefit of good teachers, the help of the health service, and as I built my business, I found stable governments could contribute to growth and confidence. Can we honestly say that the current crop of Tories value education, health, and stability now? The British economy is set to be the only major one which will shrink in 2023: this tells us all we need to know. As their incompetence and lack of understanding is a set fact, can we move on? Even long time

Tories like Rod Stewart think we should. However, this government continues to stumble, bumping into walls, making life more difficult than it has to be.

That which cannot go on, will not. We are rapidly approaching that point. I believe the Tories know it too. We are not far off from a general election, and the Tories’ current strategy appears to be to try to lull us to sleep. They are hoping that by fading into the background we will accept them as a fact of life. They are not. We can do better than this.

No change will be instantaneous, but we can certainly alter our direction. The voters merely need to express their wishes at the next opportunity; I have high hopes they will.