This country is in a bad way. Some causes for this, such as Covid or Trump, were unavoidable. Others are the direct legacies of decisions taken by those chosen to make them on our behalf. Sometimes, despite all of the resources made available to advise and assist, such decisions are disastrous.
Suez, for example, has often and rightly been cited as a pivotal disaster with long-term consequences. PM Anthony Eden made decisions secretively to undertake a military venture which went badly, without the knowledge or support of key allies. He handed a triumph to the very leader he aimed to challenge, with consequent, long-lasting damage to Britain’s trade and reputation. This was almost 70 years ago, so not closely associated with our current woes. With that being said, which and whose decisions have got us into the mess we are now experiencing?
Margaret Thatcher and the 1980 sale of council houses
Thatcher’s decision to increase home and thus asset ownership by selling council houses to occupants was popular, but the ability for local authorities to use the proceeds from the sales to build replacements was expressly curtailed. Social housing availability was decimated. Today, supply of new houses is beyond the means of authorities and many would-be tenants are deprived of decent homes. Housing, especially properties affordable to the lower-paid, remains in short supply, inflating the cost of buying or renting beyond the means of millions. A wretched legacy.
Tony Blair and the 2003 Iraq war
Blair did much good in his premiership but the decision to participate with George W. Bush’s USA in the invasion of a sovereign nation doing no harm to UK on spurious grounds was and remains a scar on this country’s reputation. The impacts on stability in the region have endured, with millions of lives lost and affected. Trust in government has been seriously eroded as must our international reputation have been. Unforgiveable.
David Cameron and the 2016 EU referendum
A smooth and apparently reliable pair of pedigree hands made it all the more egregious when Cameron naively sought to take the steam out of the damaging debate about UK membership of the EU, not by offering a consensually agreed process appropriate to such a momentous issue, but by a simple majority referendum with few safeguards against its railroading by destructive forces. The Brexit result and subsequent implementation have been and still are disastrous for the economy, for industrial sectors needing the rejected workers, for the country’s reputation and alliances, as well as individuals’ lives.
Boris Johnson and the ruination of the Tory Party
Filling the vacuum at the top of the Conservative Party and the country to carry out the decision of the Brexit referendum with the loudest media darling of the time was a huge mistake. Those who made it, the Conservative Party, suffered decimation at his hands as he weeded out those who might disagree with his methods and committed the rest to become a xenophobic, obedient rump of little talent. His tenure was marked by venality, self-seeking and lies. His successors, serially drawn from the swamp he left behind on his ejection, have lacked the stature and competence required. His selection was a disaster for party, country and trust in politics.
Keir Starmer and Zionist bias
Starmer has selectively attacked racism in the UK. He excluded from his party representatives of Islamic communities and pro-Palestine MPs, while building his appeal on a campaign against antisemitism. He lent underhand military support to the genocide of Palestinians by Israel’s pariah government. This ethnic bias has polluted his responsibility to the Labour Party and wider electorate, failed his humanitarian duty and shamed the nation.
I separate these decision-makers into responsible leaders whose arrogance led them to make one [or more] dreadful mistake [Thatcher and Blair]; and leaders who should not have been given their roles, had there been a more rigorous selection process and larger pool of candidates [the rest].
To the outstanding examples selected I would add the decision of Chancellor Osborne instigating austerity, also under the aegis of Prime Minister Cameron, keeping millions in poverty, poor housing and dwindling public services. This policy, refreshed by his successors, has been cruel and counter-productive already for 15 years, affecting the lowest paid disproportionately and the wealthy not at all.
It may not escape your notice that several of those nominated, unhumbled by the consequences of their decisions on countless lives, still swan around coining it with nary a backward glance. To quote economist Thomas Sowell: “It is hard to imagine a more stupid or dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.”
Cumulatively, these decisions have damaged our economy, international standing and trust in formerly reliable political parties. They have opened the door to populist, high-risk alternatives. What a gamble we all take when we vote for individuals who may one day make decisions on our collective behalf. How much do we ever know about the candidates named on the ballot-paper? What measures can parliament employ to rein in mistakes?
Where we mark our cross on election day is a decision to take seriously.
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