A Guardian writer just summed up this whole Tory mess perfectly

Boris Johnson a queue to Dover and the Guardian logo
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A Guardian columnist just gave perhaps the most withering assessment of the Tory government and the past few days of chaos.

It’s hard not to be somewhat overwhelmed by this mess. But Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty managed to sum it up in a nutshell:

Read on...

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Mutant UK

Where to begin?

Well, it appears the UK could be heading into freefall. The Tories have forced huge parts of the country into Tier 4 restrictions. They claim this is due to a “mutant” strain of the coronavirus (Covid-19). As The Canary reported, not to break the habit of a lifetime, the Tories announced this via a leak to a Sunday Times journalist. The result of these last minute changes was panic in London and an exodus of people from the capital.

This mutant coronavirus strain has also resulted in many countries closing their borders with the UK. This included France. Its border closure included freight traffic from the UK. BBC News reported that:

Richard Burnett, head of the Road Haulage Association, told the BBC’s Today programme that the ban could deter EU hauliers from coming to the UK over fears they will end up being stranded.

This led to Boris Johnson holding “emergency talks” via a Cobra meeting to discuss possible food shortages. But according to the PA news agency, transport secretary Grant Shapps played down this idea.

Rogue politicians

Meanwhile, on Monday 21 December, PA reported that early on in the day:

The markets tumbled in response to the escalating coronavirus crisis and the looming prospect of a no-deal Brexit at the end of the transition period on December 31.

More than £33 billion was wiped off the FTSE 100 within minutes of opening, as the index dropped more than 2%, although it later recovered to a fall of around 1.4%.

On Brexit, senior politicians began calling on Johnson to ask the EU for an extension to the transition period. Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted:

And if that wasn’t enough for you, another Tory cronyism scandal began breaking: £200m of personal protective equipment (PPE) to a firm with alleged links to a Tory peer and a party donor:

And breathe.

The winter of discontent?

As Chakrabortty stated, under a Labour government, this really would be called “the winter of discontent”.

The Socialist Party wrote of the so-called Winter of Discontent:

On 22 January 1979 public sector workers staged a one-day strike calling for an end to low pay and for a shorter working week.

It was the biggest stoppage in Britain since the 1926 general strike. In London, 80,000 workers from the NHS, schools and local authorities marched to parliament to demand the Callaghan Labour government drop its detested policy of pay restraint.

It resulted in an effective shut-down of some public services. The images of rubbish piling up on the streets is often used as an example of this. And of course, it was all presided over by a Labour government.

The Tory government: ‘nature’s bastards’

Now, in 2020, we have similar chaos. And as Colin Carroll pointed out:

So, if we had a Labour government right now – maybe yes, the establishment press and the Tories would be calling this a ‘winter of discontent’. But we don’t. And things are very different now to how they were in 1978/79.

Throughout the pandemic, the Tories have played on this being an unprecedented crisis. Couple that with a servile media and an exhausted public whose wellbeing still remains impacted, and the Tories will likely be able to spin even the mess of the past few days; chaos that some are calling “Brexit Island“.

If you can enjoy Christmas, do. Because the signs of 2021 being any better are evaporating fast.

Featured image via the BBC – YouTube, Sky News – YouTube and Wikimedia

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  • Show Comments
    1. We can all do this kind of gag:

      “Winter of bogus content…”? Richard III

      “Once more unto the u-turn … fill up the ditch with our English dead…” Henry V

      Alas, (sic) ‘King of the World’ Johnson certainly qualifies as a sub-Shakspearean tribute act.

      “Blow your wind, and crack your cheeks…” – King Lear

      Yup, Johnson farts from his mouth every time he speaks.

      But Tories are still hoping this life-long habit of spectacular failure is just a temporary glitch and the base metal of ‘Boris’ will one day turn into pure gold and win another election. You can fool some of the people some of the time, and deluded Tory cultists 24/7 on a loop.

      Such an inspiration.

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