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Thursday 20 October 2022

The Tories Disintegrate

Everyone with a merely tangential grasp of reality told those in and around the Tory party that making Mary Elizabeth Truss the next Prime Minister would end one way, with the certainty of night following day: it would be a disaster from which that party might not recover for some time, if at all. That advice went unheeded, the inevitable happened, and here we are.


Where might that be? Looking on as the Tories squabble - resorting not only to the usual dirty tricks and sly briefing, but also to physical coercion - then collapse not so much by implosion, but by disintegration under the stresses caused by ideology buffeted by its encounter with reality. Spending a day travelling, sometimes out of range, now means missing resignations, sackings, fighting, and the sound of opinion poll ratings hitting bedrock.

What started with Kwasi Kwarteng’s alleged mini-budget (you’ll remember him, he was Chancellor of the Exchequer once) and markets taking fright has now become the Tories sweeping all before them in the latest round of the Team Shambles awards, together with the prospect of electoral wipeout.

Kwarteng was effectively sacked by Ms Truss; in his place came Jeremy HUNT HUNT HUNT HUNT HUNT HUNT HUNT. Right-wing pundits were incandescent with rage: the deeply unpleasant Dan Wootton, former Brexit Party Oberscheissenführer Nigel “Thirsty” Farage and the rest of the convocation of contrarianism at Gammon Broadcasting™ News (“Bacon’s News Channel”) banged on about Globalists and lack of democracy.

Ms Truss has not submitted herself to the electorate, but they don’t mind that, such are the high principles of having power without responsibility. But the departure of Kwarteng was a mere hors d’oeuvres for the much more substantial entrée that was the acrimonious sacking of Suella Braverman from the Home Office, something many wished had happened rather earlier.

Ms Braverman had sent an official document from a personal email address, which is against the rules, and to make matters worse, had sent it to someone who was not in the cabinet, and not an MP either, as she had not addressed it correctly. Thus she confirmed her lack of suitability for high office, or indeed for any role that involved addressing emails correctly.

But to her credit, Ms Braverman’s bridge-burning resignation letter should put an end to any prospect of her getting anywhere near high office ever again. She was replaced by Grant “Spiv” Shapps; Farage went off on one about Globalists again, this time with added anti-Semitism. Shapps is Jewish.


With the so-called mini budget consigned to history under the revising eye of HUNT CULTURE HUNT CULTURE HUNT CULTURE, the member for times long past Jacob Rees Mogg at one point admitting that he was not sure who was still in the cabinet, and letters of no confidence piling up in Graham Brady’s in-tray, the prospect has to be faced: will Ms Truss last the week?

Is there a Government chief whip? Wendy Morton suggested last night that she wasn’t. Then she was. Her deputy may also have resigned and then un-resigned. Shapps was too busy to turn up to answer a Labour Urgent Question this morning; perhaps facing off against Yvette Cooper was not such an appealing prospect. But, ultimately, this is no laughing matter.

Inflation has officially been confirmed at its highest level in 40 years, industrial unrest is spreading, eco-protests are spreading likewise, the act of national self-harm that is Brexit is making matters worse, fuel bills are rocketing, poverty is worsening accordingly, and we have a Government that is largely absent from the field of play. And that’s not good enough.

Liz Truss is finished, a PM in name only, a zombie leader. Any idea that the Tories can get away with swapping her for Rishi Sunak or anyone else without going to the country is not credible, with their 2019 manifesto now so much ancient history. This is a party that has finally run out of road.

We need a genuine change of Government, and that means a General Election. If the result brings a Tory wipeout, well, BOO FUCKING HOO.


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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gone, another Tory Drone to be foisted on us within a week.

Denstone said...

So farewell, then, Mrs. Mary O'Leary. Godspeed and a safe journey into history. You and Sue Ellen.

Anonymous said...

Long ago, pre-Bozo, I said:

1. Things would get not only worse, but much much worse. They have.

2. There would be another war in the East. There is.

In the immediate weeks following the 2019 election I said there was every prospect Labour would "win" the next election through default, NOT through radical policy improvements. There is.

Gore Vidal once said "The four sweetest words are 'I told you so' ".

Anonymous said...

And 19 minutes after this was posted...!

Gary said...

Gore Vidal also said, "it is not enough to succeed, others must fail."

Which seems to be a recurring thread, indeed the engine of modern British politics; there is no real success, only advancement through the failure of others. Starmer is ahead not because of his own efforts, but mostly due to the cosmic ineptness of the Tories, and each Tory PM ascends to power because their predecessor being awful.

It's a process of mediocrity.

Mark Hayhurst said...

Starmer is a very unlucky politician, and Boris was popular enough to see off the threat of Corbyn era communist drudgery, but he must now seize the chance.

Martin Read said...

Trouble is, the MSM will again get away with presenting this window dressing as, somehow, a new government. The next figurehead will talk about 'changing direction,' 'the poor record of the previous (same) government, and Peston et al will package it up for the general public.

Then there's always 'Putin's illegal war in Ukrain (Nato's proxy),' the unprecedented 'Pandemic (until the next one)' the hopes of the shareholders, the markets, the mysterious voice of the IEA (new BBC pet favourite).

Public Prosecutor Sir Keith will likely have fully eviscerated Labour before the country may be afforded the tweak of management offered by Reeves, Streeting et al. Expect no significant house building, public sector pay increase, no improved minimum wage, no new green deal, no cleaner rivers and coastlines.