The Crisis In Britain Is Worsening By The Day, But The Government Is Doing Nothing To Address It

The Crisis In Britain Is Worsening By The Day, But The Government Is Doing Nothing To Address It

The Crisis In Britain Is Worsening By The Day, But The Government Is Doing Nothing To Address It

Throughout the summer of 2015, the United Kingdom has been experiencing a summer of misery, with its beloved health service sinking into crisis, inflation soars, taps running dry, and strikes halting trains. In the meantime, the government is nowhere to be found.

The sense of collapse only seems to be increasing; on Friday, health leaders issued a grim warning, warning of a “humanitarian crisis” if action is not taken to prevent the rise in energy prices over the winter.

According to Matthew Taylor, the chief executive of the National Health Service Confederation, many people could face an awful choice between skipping meals to keep warm in their homes and living in extremely cold, damp, and unpleasant conditions because of the outbreaks.

During what is expected to be the most difficult winter on record for the NHS, these outbreaks will strike just as they are likely to occur.”

There have been warnings for weeks now that Britain is only at the beginning of the worst cost of living crisis in generations, and this highly unusual intervention comes after several weeks of warnings.

The rate of inflation passed 10% earlier this week, putting a greater strain on the already hard-pressed households that are already struggling to make ends meet.

The Crisis In Britain Is Worsening By The Day, But The Government Is Doing Nothing To Address It

There are signs that the country is about to enter a recession; the country’s GDP is expected to continue to shrink through the end of the year and beyond.

In addition to the economic pressure, there has also been a strike by transport and dock workers, and there has been a warning of further industrial action across the public and private sectors.

It has even been reported that some lawyers in criminal cases have gone on strike, causing further disruption to the already overburdened court system.

It is worth noting, however, that the outgoing prime minister Boris Johnson is currently on his second holiday of the summer.

Downing Street, when pressed about why Johnson is not back in London to come up with an urgent action plan, said the next Prime Minister should take responsibility for major spending plans if he is not back in London by the end of the month.

In addition, Johnson’s replacement — either Liz Truss, the current foreign secretary, or Rishi Sunak, the former finance minister whose resignation sparked Johnson’s eventual downfall — will not be in place until September 5.

It has been almost two months since Johnson announced he would resign, ignoring calls for him to step down immediately and allow a new leader the opportunity to get on with the business of leading the country.

The Crisis In Britain Is Worsening By The Day, But The Government Is Doing Nothing To Address It
The Crisis In Britain Is Worsening By The Day, But The Government Is Doing Nothing To Address It

As far as the British public is concerned, the next Prime Minister will not be elected by the British people, but by the members of the ruling Conservative Party, which has fewer than 200,000 members in a country of about 67 million people.

There is no doubt that this is entirely constitutionally correct. Voters in the United Kingdom elect a local member of Parliament who represents them in Parliament.

In order to form a government, the party with the most seats – and, with a bit of luck, the majority needed to pass legislation in Parliament – requests the permission of the monarch to take office.

It is traditional for the leader of the party to become the Prime Minister of that country.
During the 2019 elections, Johnson won a majority in the House of Commons of 80 seats.

In spite of the fact that this has since diminished, the Conservative party still commands a majority in parliament and, therefore, is still capable of governing the country.

As such, Johnson’s allies are saying that it is the next Prime Minister’s responsibility to provide financial support for those suffering in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, given that the situation is urgent and the professional civil service is capable of working on a multitude of problems if it is directed to do so.

In a statement provided to CNN by the government, a spokesperson said that while “fiscal decisions for the next few months will be up to the next Prime Minister, we are continuing to provide financial support directly to people as part of our existing £37 billion package, which will continue to arrive in the weeks ahead for people in order to cope with the rising cost of living.”

Critics across all political spectrums, however, believe that this is insufficient and that firmer action needs to be taken immediately to address the issue.

The Crisis In Britain Is Worsening By The Day, But The Government Is Doing Nothing To Address It

The Conservative member of Parliament Daniel Kawczynski, who supports Truss in the leadership contest, believes that due to the severity of the situation, it would be wise for the party to end the leadership contest early and install the new prime minister, or empower Johnson to take action immediately.

“The contest has been going on for too long and we need leadership now. Navel gazing is not a good idea when critical decisions must be made.

This crisis needs to be addressed, so either the current leader must be empowered to take action or the contest must be ended.

As he told CNN, “The British people expect us to address this crisis.”
A Labour MP told CNN that Johnson should be taking action now to address the cost of living crisis, in a possible foreshadowing of what could become a stinging criticism of the government in the future.

“The only reason they (Conservative leadership candidates) aren’t taking action is because of a mixture of laziness and complacency.”

This week, the opposition Labour Party called for the immediate recall of Parliament so that lawmakers can take immediate action in order to prevent the increase in energy bills, which are expected to almost double in October due to the regulator raising a ceiling on the prices charged by suppliers.

In a letter sent to Johnson and the two candidates for the leadership, Thangam Debbonaire MP, Labour’s shadow leader of the House of Commons, appealed to the Conservatives to bring back Parliament early on Monday 22 August in order to freeze the energy price cap before it becomes effective.

A rise in the energy price cap will be announced by the UK’s energy regulator next week, according to her.

Against the backdrop of a rise in inflation to 10.1%, this will not only send households into a further spiral of worry, pushing them to cut back even further ahead of the winter, but it will also cause a shock for our economy.

In light of the fact that many businesses and households are on the verge of bankruptcy, we cannot wait to take action now.”

It is a government-implemented mechanism that prevents energy companies from overcharging their customers by setting a cap on energy prices.

At the time of publication, CNN had approached Downing Street as well as a number of government officials for comment on the proposal but had not received an official response as of the time of publication.

Even former Johnson allies and real Conservatives cannot fathom the reason why the party in power seems to be content to coast along with the consequences of what is about to happen to our country, given the severity of the situation.

There have been no concrete examples given by either of the present leadership candidates as to what specific policies they will be implementing in order to cope with what is going to be a hellish winter for many Canadians in the upcoming months.

Those who are cynical might say it is because any solution will require vast amounts of public spending, which is anathema to the members of the traditional Conservative party who will choose the next Prime Minister.

The reason for this could also be due to the fact that public spending on such a scale cannot be accounted for in the same breath as the promise of immediate tax cuts and a refusal to raise taxes on big business, including energy companies, in order to fund a way out of the crisis.

It will not take long before Johnson’s successor will have to deal with a broader group of critics in the near future. Firstly, they have to deal with their political opponents in Parliament.

After that, it is up to the general public to vote at the polls.

The Conservatives could suffer a fatal error if they fail to act when dire warnings come weekly and could cost them the next general election if they fail to act.

As a result, it would be tall ask to expect the public to forgive them for sleepwalking into a crisis after over a decade in power.

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