That is before one considers the current crisis in the NHS, and especially in A&E departments across the UK, the cost of living crisis, steepling energy prices, and the slow puncture to the economy that is Brexit. So, once again, it is time to dust off J K Galbraith’s definition of leadership.
“All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership”. That major anxiety, or rather those major anxieties, are clear: healthcare, and the cost of living. Who should be providing that leadership? Ah well.
The leadership should come from the top, and that means one person: the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. So where is he? Anyone actually seen him out and about recently? Paging Rishi Sunak! But, apart from the slickly produced videos and other messages, all that comes back is the sound of crickets.
That there is a leadership vacuum is all too obvious from one look at today’s offerings from our free and fearless press: the estimate that A&E delays could be causing 500 patient deaths a week is widely reported, and the Mail is trying to talk up Sunak, telling “The scale of the exceptional New Year challenges facing Rishi Sunak was laid bare last night”.
But what neither the Mail, nor all those titles putting the “500 patient deaths” figure on their front pages, are telling is that Sunak is thus far apparently doing very little about it, save to admit that 2023 will “have its challenges”. Well, have I got news for Rishi: you’re not there to tell the voters how challenging things are getting - you’re supposed to be doing what you can to deal with those challenges. Confronting those major anxieties.
And the right-leaning part of the press knows that their chosen Prime Minister is absent from the field of battle. Hence many of them wheeling out Prince Harry to provide a little momentary interest; indeed, the Murdoch Sun has made speculation about what is in Haz’ new book, available next week at all good bookstores, its sole front page story. Look over there, proles!
Sunak could announce more resources for the NHS, and especially those A&E units, many of which are now effectively in crisis. But he has not, and most likely will not. He goes private. So do most of his pals. So do all those obscenely overpaid editors and pundits who help prop up the Government. For him, the world is excellent. He’s a Tory, and Tories don’t care.
But he won’t, and come the next General Election, despite the mess over which he is presiding, most of the press will slavishly back him and his fellow Tories, no matter how unfit for public office they have shown themselves to be. Rishi Sunak is the new Invisible Man: he will not intervene, he will not address the major anxiety of his people in his time.
The country is leaderless. And no-one in power appears to care. Bad news.
https://www.patreon.com/Timfenton
6 comments:
With a Government who have fingers in ears and blindfolds on it’s time for organisations outside of their bubble to act.
TUC should begin coordinating a move towards a complete all out strike from 1 February.
Less than a minute after posting this who should walk past me but odious Brendan Clark Smith MP.
For some reason he was wearing a fake American airforce jacket with lots of US military patches. Strange isn’t the word.
Last thing I heard, him (Sunak) and Andrew bridgen were considering joining reform
Love Google. Channeling his inner Tom Cruise must have been the vibe. It really was bizarre.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/233396484543?hash=item365783b9bf:g:a~IAAOSwNbNhl6wi&var=534469479198
Broadly speaking, I think it's better than if Jeremy Corbyn was in charge, but it is what it is at this point.
Britain deserves better.
Jeremy Corbyn would have been assassinated by our own security forces long before now, but at least a victory back then would have provided a brief respite from these greedy bastards robbing from and flogging off what’s left of the country - albeit temporarily.
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