Cold wind of reality exposes Britain’s myths…and mistakes
Crises reveal, and the illuminating effects of the latest Middle East war should leave us shuddering and ashamed.
The nature of Keir Starmer’s government has been revealed; obsessing over the finer points of international law when our principal ally asked for our help. Starmer’s position has been exposed, too, with briefings suggesting he was more amenable to President Trump’s request to use British bases than his pacifist cabinet colleagues, who tied his hands.
The state of our armed forces has also been found wanting, with Cyprus (and our own base on the island) protected by the swift arrival of French and Greek naval assets while one of our few remaining destroyers still sits in Portsmouth, not yet ready to sail, with the dockyard only operating 9-5 thanks to a cost-cutting Ministry of Defence contract. It’s admirable that our naval assets are deployed across the world, from the Caribbean to the North Atlantic and Australia, but telling – and alarming – that we cannot respond to emergencies, even if the looming emergency has been clear to see for weeks if not months.
Now, as economies around the world are rattled by surging oil prices, stock market sell-offs and the spectre of inflation, the absurdity of our Net Zero obsession and the fragility of our public finances have also been exposed by the cold wind of reality.
Tories must take their share of the blame
Analysts concocting economic scenarios all point out that the current crisis could be short and sharp; if the conflict eases and oil flows freely once again, we’ll breathe a sigh of relief. But a longer war that damages or imperils critical energy infrastructure presents a horrifying prospect, one that makes Labour’s decision to tax the North Sea oil and gas sector out of existence even more stupid than it was before the latest eruption of chaos.
The Tories must also take the blame for this lamentable state of affairs. Theresa May’s search for a legacy saw our Net Zero commitments signed into law with barely any debate or scrutiny. The rest (along with any chance of energy security) is history.
Meanwhile, with borrowing costs spiking (more so than in Europe) this government’s high tax, high welfare, low growth model is testing investors’ patience as well as their credulity. Starmer and Reeves claim they’ve fixed the foundations and that we’re well-placed to weather this storm, but this is a fantasy. In reality, years of complacency are catching up with us.