The Casino de Montbenon in Lausanne, Switzerland is the perfect setting for a James Bond movie. Set in gorgeous gardens and overlooking Lake Geneva and the Alps, criminals and bad guys can enter or escape by motorboat or helicopter. The building itself is as beautiful as it is ornate, with a slight touch that it didn’t actually house a games room.
As I sat recently in the vast dining room, I couldn’t help but feel as though a certain story was unfolding around me – no ropes suddenly coming down from the ceiling or gunshots reverberating throughout the room – but the ulterior motive for inviting me to such an impressive plaza suddenly became apparent. .
As we were sitting in a secluded corner of the restaurant, the conversation abruptly faded and my host slowly stepped forward and said, “This is Matthew told me—and I hope you don’t mind me asking—but when we watch what’s happening in the United Kingdom we can’t help but think, ‘What the hell is going on? “Can you please explain?”
It’s certainly very interesting to suggest that the restaurant fell into groaning silence, but it sure was a long pause as my European friends and colleagues waited in deep anticipation for my answer.
That answer was, at the time, weak, misleading, and incoherent.
Some would say it was thus a perfect reflection of the state of British politics.
But the current chaos, turmoil, betrayal, and turmoil demand a more honest and thoughtful response. Here, then, is a second attempt to respond to what we might call Bond’s bio-like ‘Montennon’s Question’.
stock struggle
First and foremost, what happens isn’t just about Liz Truss. Her premiership – and the fact that she has ever handed the keys to the number 10 – is indicative of a much deeper malaise in British politics: the lack of any coherent national vision. A party or political leader without a clear vision of what they want to achieve, why they want to achieve it and how they intend to achieve it, is unlikely to have a taste for power for very long.
If there has been a fundamental insight into British politics over the past decade, it has been wrapped up in fictional stories about Brexit. This resulted in a political vacuum.
After years spent either lobbying for or seeking to avoid Brexit, the British political elite had no vision of the UK’s future after leaving the EU or how to play a meaningful role in the world.
Even worse, the country is now on the other side of Brexit, finding itself in a world almost known for its volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity, as Putin’s invasion of Ukraine demonstrated. These are risks that require close friends and strategic alliances; No stagnation, closed-mindedness and empty rhetoric.
political exhaustion
A really important dimension of British politics today is not only that the Conservative government is in disarray – the effects of incumbency tend to weigh heavily on any party after a while – but that the official opposition is also weak.
Recent polls may suggest that Labor has opened a significant lead over the Conservatives, but my strong sense is that this is fueled by (negative) resentment of the Conservatives rather than the positive emotion of the new vision that Labour has presented. Survey evidence reveals that the number of people who answered “yes” to the question “Does Labor have a clear sense of purpose?” It’s down from 65% in July 2019 to just about 40% today.
Scientific
The Conservatives are not the only party struggling. The party system itself is strict.
In the past when the ruling party was running out of strength, and when its vision was exhausted, the pendulum of party politics would swing and the “other group” would have a chance to inject some new ideas. But if we’re brutally honest, British politics appears to be a land of two (and a half) weak and tired parties, backed only by a disproportionate electoral system.
What may already be happening is that long-standing structural and systemic weaknesses in UK governance are simply becoming more apparent. British politics, in a sense, is collapsing from within because the principles and processes by which it “does” politics are simply out of alignment with the needs and demands of a future-looking and increasingly diverse population.
British political culture and the institutions and processes that support it remain elitist. This reflects their pre-democratic origins, but tribal tendencies and aggressive antagonism seem increasingly outdated. Westminster’s “yah-boo” policy is simply embarrassing. There is a lot of yelling and little listening. It is the most pathetic stadium policy.
The fact that the Prime Minister and her (former) ministers were able to announce such a drastic package of policies in what they called a “mini-budget”, evaded official scrutiny and “blowed the horizon” (as Governor of the Bank) from England) with the nation’s economy reveals the crux of the problem.
Authority is very centralized, and the rules of the game are very opaque. As the government steps back and the opposition rushes from the sidelines, what is still missing is any sense of a positive vision for the future. A vision, for example, might look beyond the current cost-of-living crisis and redefine the challenge of climate change as a positive opportunity for investment and innovation for future generations.
My sense is that the crisis in British politics that prompted the Montignon question shows no sign of abating. It might well be, if we look back, on the faltering steps of an old system in dire need of modernization and renewal if we are to restore any sense of governing competence, public confidence, and global credibility.
Originally published at San Jose News Bulletin
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