This Conservative government is not a friend to business; if it hasn't said so in such stark terms, it has undoubtedly acted so. The economic damage caused by a lack of employable people can not be overstated. And because of this, our economy must certainly have suffered.
We are now feeling the delayed effect of Brexit as well as suffering the post-trauma of Covid, and of course, we are feeling the repercussions of little Putin and his narcissistic war on Ukraine.
The world is in a dangerous place right now; it looks like China's Xi Jinping, also with territorial expansion on his mind, is buddying up to Putin, and that alliance could well knock us over the edge into war.
Not building up our armed Forces is Ostrige-like folly. At least be a little prepared - really, our politicians need to wake up and man up!
I had to accompany my Mother-in-law to our major regional Hospital a few Sundays ago. The ambulance staff were great, but they had some fearful accounts of how bad the ambulance and medical services have become. To start with, when we arrived, nineteen ambulances were queuing to unload their injured and sick. We were told there would be a minimum of a four-hour wait - most likely nine hours. So if anyone had an accident in East Anglia - there most likely wouldn't be an ambulance to come to their rescue. Furthermore, the paramedic told me they spent the whole shift the day before sitting outside a major hospital because there was no room for the patient to be admitted.
The point is - the system, the NHS - is broken; it is not fixable; it is in bits and needs rebuilding from the ground up. The same could be said of the Police, which has consistently lowed its standards and appears to not care for certain crimes, like robbery. There is no local policing now, and you can not call the Police unless it is a 999 call without having to queue interminably, so it is easier not to bother. Apparently, poorly led, lower standards and a lower bar to entry have resulted in a hugely reduced service, creating barriers and mistrust between the thin blue line and the public, between law and order - and chaos.
In business, if the process or the delivery becomes less than the customer expects, that business will likely go bust. It won't survive.
Wanting to be a politician and make life better for everyone is a laudable aim, but being incompetent in business will result in a personal Improvement Plan - a PIP, or you will get fired because no business can survive indefinitely on poor performance. Yet these major services for our country continue to fail, and yet no politicians have any answers except to throw more money at the problem. It beggars belief.
And here we are with two potential conservative candidates who desperately want to have the job of Prime Minister. One of the few jobs in our country where no qualifications are needed and not even a decent set of core values is required, apparently, as the outgoing Prime Minister has clearly demonstrated.
I suppose we eventually get what we deserve as a society. What is it - that makes us so crap at choosing qualified, decent leaders? Perhaps that is the weakness of Democracy. That is its major flaw; we vote for a party, not an individual, and selfishly for who is offering us the most gain as opposed to what is best for the whole country and our growth as individuals. As if kids would vote for the teacher who offers them the most sweets, not the one they will learn the most from.
Rikki - Suffolk - UK - 25th August - 2022
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