In his latest column, PopCon Director, Mark Littlewood, writes that not enough people are aware of the perilous state that Britain is in. "It’s one minute to midnight and we seem to believe we can treat early stage cancer with Lemsip."
I want to share my reflections on the current political scene in light of my appearance on Radio 4’s “Any Questions?” on Friday evening.
I was on the panel in Newmarket alongside Labour justice minister, Sarah Sackman MP, green campaigner Amira Campbell, and Conservative peer and former M&S chairman Lord (Stuart) Rose.
It is completely true that – as advertised – the panellists have no advance warning of the questions. Of course, it is usually the case that you can predict the broad themes from that week’s main news stories and I was pleased that I was unsurprised by any of the topics raised by the audience. (Stockpiling for potential emergencies, drilling in the North Sea, what might be in the upcoming budget and whether fining people for blaring out noise on public transport is a sensible policy priority).
As a side note, the hardest question is nearly always the “warm up” question, a few minutes before the live broadcast begins. This is never broadcast but gives an opportunity for the audience at the venue to get a feel for the style and intonation of the panellists and for the BBC to ensure that all the tech is working properly. The warm up question is always unpredictable and “off piste”. On previous episodes we have been asked which Dickens character we most identify with, who our tip is for Sports Personality of the Year and even what our favourite hill is (do people really have a favourite hill? My answer was that my favourite hill will be the one I finally choose to die on).
On Friday night we were asked a question based on cricket (an England batsman recently had performed heroics against Sri Lanka but had still gone on to lose). We were asked to give an example of when we had witnessed (or been involved in) an exceptional effort that nevertheless resulted in defeat. This provided me with my only opportunity to shoehorn in a reference to Southampton Football Club, which I have a high propensity to do in media interviews (albeit, sadly, this one will never be broadcast).
I found my fellow panellists to be convivial and courteous throughout – although this in no way impeded a vigorous and feisty discussion. You can catch up on the debate by clicking here.
My major takeaway is that I think not enough people are aware of the perilous state that Britain is in.
No doubt this observation was heightened by the early discussion about the Prime Minister saying he would personally stockpile Twiglets in the event of a national catastrophe and the final question being about music being played in train carriages. (For the record, I’m pro-Twiglet and anti-loud music).
Overall, there seems a lack of urgency amongst our political class – even verging on complacency. I wonder whether, subconsciously or not, many are engaged in psychological displacement activity. The issues facing the country are so enormous it is much easier to wish them away than to tackle them.
The national debt is north of £3trn. The real position is much worse than this as there are a swathe of enormous off-balance-sheet liabilities (such as public sector pensions) which we are not even close to confronting. We have been running budget deficits (often enormous deficits) for a quarter of a century and yet are told there must be no return to austerity (what austerity?).
The tax burden is at a peacetime high and yet mad schemes are constantly floated to squeeze the rich even harder or whack the banks with a still bigger stick.
Immigration is out of control – tearing away at our social fabric and costing a fortune we do not have – and yet we are supposed to take solace in the fact that whilst the bath is already overflowing we have turned down the taps a little.
Our national defences (both conventional and relating to cyber-security) are now threadbare and will take many years to revive but any plan to do so keeps getting kicked into the long grass.
The only tangible national mission seems to be to hit Carbon Net Zero by 2050 – a ludicrous and arbitrary target which will bankrupt us if we try to hit it and will have no impact on the global environment in the vanishingly unlikely event that we do so.
In this maelstrom, we are arguing about the benefits of capping bus fares at £2 and whether it is appropriate for Angela Rayner to covet Sauvignon Blanc and mascara in the event of a future national lockdown.
Right across Western Europe, governmental systems are failing. The social democratic model has been tested to breaking point. The state has continually fuelled wildly unrealistic expectations amongst the citizenry and has no remotely feasible way of meeting them. (A particular irritation of mine is when I hear Labour politicians saying that people want to “feel richer”. The idea that you can “feel richer” without actually being richer is mad or deeply sinister or both).
I still believe that Britain can be saved. But I am very far from certain. We seem incapable of properly analysing the illnesses we are suffering from (nearly all of which stem from the completely dysfunctional government machinery we have adopted over the last thirty years or so) – and therefore are not yet minded to treat them.
It’s one minute to midnight and we seem to believe we can treat early stage cancer with Lemsip. I don’t wish for some horrific event to finally bring us to our senses but something or other is going to have to. We aren’t merely on a road to nowhere but on a road to national destruction. The longer we take to realise this, the harder will be the journey back.
Keep the flag of freedom flying!