More than a Flesh Wound

Forget ruling the waves- Britain has, like Monty Python's Black Knight, become a shell of its former self.

             

If you can remember all the way back to January, I published an article previewing some of the key elections around the world in 2024.  However, like any attention-seeking political pundit these days, my crystal ball proved to be quite foggy.  While I correctly predicted the re-election of India's Narendra Modi and the sharp rise of right-wing, anti-establishment political parties in the European Union, this writer, like everyone else, could not anticipate the surprise elections 2024 held up its sleeve.  In this three-part series, I will focus on three different national elections that have occurred all in the month of July.  Those three countries are the United Kingdom, France, and Iran.  This first installment is about the United Kingdom, a nation whose golden age has come and gone.  I am sure many of you know there was once a time when the Royal Navy ruled the waves and the sun never set on the British Empire.  Now, Britain can barely get its own house in order.

In an act I would describe as an epic political seppuku, (now former) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, already struggling with an 18% approval rating, called an early election on July 4.  No, that was not a typo.  The beautiful irony of an Englishman penciling in July 4 as the day of his own political self-destruction is certainly not lost on me.  And self-destruct Sunak did.  With Sunak’s Conservative Party, the world’s oldest political party, suffering an epic, worst-ever defeat, Keir Starmer’s opposition Labour Party won a landslide 411-seat majority, thus bucking the right-wing trend in Europe.  However, far from being a triumph for progressivism, Starmer’s victory is more of a symbol for Britain’s decline.  While many outsiders may blame Brexit, the depth of Britain’s woes are significantly more far-reaching.

So how did everything go so wrong for Sunak?  Here’s my take- since halcyon days of the British Empire, the United Kingdom has been on a steep and likely irreversible decline.  Housing has become unaffordable, with young Britons forced to live with their parents well into their 30s.  The British National Health Service is in a state of collapse, with nearly 10 million people on a waiting list for medical treatment or even a routine check-up, a trend no doubt accelerated by the pandemic.  Petty crime and migration have also surged to record levels, pushing these services deeper into crisis every year.  Meanwhile, the Conservative Party, once seen as a beacon of competence, has turned into a factory for scandals as well as prime ministers who fail to outlive a head of iceberg lettuce.  Perhaps most ominously for Britain’s future, the once almighty British Armed Forces have deteriorated substantially.  Under Sunak’s watch, Britain now has less than 150 thousand active military personnel, barely one-tenth of the Russian Armed Forces.  With prominent Russian figures ominously threatening Europe, even an optimist such as myself is worried. 

In this cocktail of malaise, all Keir Starmer and the Labour Party had to do was promise a return to stability and competence- which is exactly what they did.  However, should Starmer fail to deliver major reform, which seems likely, expect his party to become ingloriously booted out in a few years.  I really hate to come across as pessimistic, but I simply see no alternative.  My conclusion: the sun has sadly set on the once-great Britain.