Here is a proposition that most of you would not consider unless asked after multiples drinks/pints in the pub: who would be a politician nowadays?
Now I have no time for the current UK government. The best thing one can say about Rishi Sunak is that he is not Boris Johnson nor Liz Truss. Since 2010, when the Tories won an election on the basis that the 2008 financial crisis was Labour’s fault (??), we have had five prime ministers, austerity budgets, Brexit, any number of scandals, a distinct lack of industrial and energy strategies and a collapsing economy. What more could you ask for?
But putting these matters aside for a moment, how could it be possible now to please any significant portion of the electorate with any particular policy? Interest groups, fragmented ideological blocs, protesters, international wars that have little to do with national governments…shall I go on?
What has brought this to mind is the recent UK budget and the energy and industrial portions that were included – or not. Now you could hardly have two more diametrically opposed organisations than Offshore Energies UK, the mouthpiece of the oil and gas industry, and Greenpeace which has been against anything most UK governments and industry have done since well before the Brent Spar fiasco nearly 30 years ago. I personally believe that Greenpeace has its heart in the right place, but after it made allegations about what was contained inside the spar that proved to be unfounded, it made me revise my view of such organisations. That reminded me of the time I went to a National Union of Journalists’ meeting in Swindon back in 1985 which was addressed during the miners’ strike by a member of the NUM – the ‘M’ stands for mineworkers. I was actually covering the strike and issues involved so I knew what was going on. This NUM official just told the gathering a bunch of ‘porkies’, ie untruths. None of the others at the meeting knew the details of the issues, but could I, a Yank only in the country for a few years then, get up and challenge what the NUM guy was saying? I didn’t think my life was worth it.
Anyway, when the most recent budget was announced a fortnight ago, all and sundry were in uproar. Few seemed to like what was being offered or suggested except a few industry organisations, the so-called ‘Uriah Heeps’ who just wring their hands in acclimation and hardly ever say boo to a goose. OEUK was apoplectic about the fact the EPL – excess profits levy – was to continue for another year or two. How dare these politicians who feed at our trough not allow us to make as much money as possible! Across the political divide, Greenpeace and many who have hitched their wagons to the renewables and energy transition (ET) engine were equally unpleased by the government’s failure to continue to pursue a viable ET strategy and not offering support to boost onshore wind in a more positive way, while still claiming to be a world leader in trying to halt climate change.
Sometimes politicians voice the opinion that if everyone is unhappy, they might be doing the right thing. All I say is bollocks. It might be the case with a strong and successful politician, but with this lot, it only proves that they have no friends and don’t know which way is up.
