Prague 16 November 2022
An English friend has recently written an interesting comment on the appointment of Rishi Sunak to head the new British government. Mr. Sunak has been called by the Tory Party to clean up the mess after the disastrous performance of Liz Truss, who must keep the British record as the PM with the shortest term of the office. I agreed with my friend’s commentary and loved his directness; when he did not like a person’s performance he would call it, as one should- “useless”. I also liked his naming a person “nasty piece of work”. There was also no hiding any mistakes made by Sunak in the past, and he put his own spin on it by referring to the famous French saying – “plus ca change…” ( I hate to say it but, maybe it is the French response to Steven Clarks’s 1000 years of annoying the French?). Why are not journalists as straightforward and to the point as my friend?
I also liked his analysis and conclusions. He rightly criticized Sunak’s personnel management skills. He found his sudden interest in global warming as hollow, which also seems to an outsider as appropriate. He worried about the next big step – the budget, and he is right. It is indeed a big testing ground. I do not see him coming out of next Thursday as a big winner and with a big smile because the budget news cannot possibly be a big winner…..
Now, let me add a few comments, comments of an outsider both by the origins of my birth and by my current address. Be it as it may, take whatever it is worth…
British politicians face two key issues and challenges – loss of credibility of the Tory Party and deeply disappointed and hurt British people. Given the constitutional niceties, the solutions to political crises in Britain are special – their resolution remains in the domain of the party in office during the whole constitutional period. This may work in situations involving problems of a minority of the population – by providing a certain degree of political stability (unlike Italy) – but could be disastrous when the crisis is serious and affects the majority of the population. The crisis we have recently faced, the crisis of Covid, Ukraine, the energy crisis, global warming – those are all issues affecting the whole country. In a situation of this kind, the Tories put in charge a person who visibly has no respect to anybody – Johnson. His handling of the crisis was severely criticized by many. So, next comes Ms. Truss – as the choice of Tories, not of the British people. She lasts 3 weeks? Once again, the Tories do not listen to the calls from the British people for new elections – and appoint their man Mr. Sunak. It is almost like telling the British people – go and …. To me, it is completely disrespectful, and oblivious to the gravity of the problems in the country, which would call for something close to a war cabinet, or a cabinet of the whole nation. It is clear that Mr Sunak is facing a deeply divided Tory Party and the question is – can re-unite the Party?
This takes me to my second point. Mr Sunak is facing a country deeply affected by those crises, hurt by inefficiencies of the NHS, by rising prices and by injustices of the effects of inflation and of the tax regime. Can he unite the country behind his deeds and policies, and can he bring some optimism and sense of cooperation from the British public? Here I am on a very thin ice and cannot add much to what has already been said by my friend and many journalists in the UK and elsewhere. The only thing I would say is that I am watching Mr Sunak as a “psychologist” and what I see is his body language, and the body language does not give me positive vibrations. He seems insecure and as if suspecting coup d’état in every public appearance. In a way, I am not surprised, given his Indian origins, and the history of purity of British politics, especially on the Tory side.
I am writing this comment from Prague, the country of music, as it is well known. This country has been facing a major political affair. The former PM Babis is one of the three richest Czechs, and much of his wealth is due to various Czech and European subsidies. Now, this is the man who was running the Czech government deciding about economic policies – clearly, a massive conflict of interest, something reaching even the European courts and the European Parliament. Now, he has decided, in order to avoid any court action against him , to run for president in the next presidential election in January 2023. I am saying all this because, it seems to me that Mr. Sunak is facing a similar problem, given the tax status of his wife. It seems that he has a conflict of interest as much as Mr. Babis.
I love Britain. After all, I am a part of it. The British people are very civilized and will find a reasonable solution. I only wish they find it sooner.