After the elections

Does it even matter

Labour have had their arses handed to them by the British public. They and their main supporters can dress that up all they like but that is the reality of the situation. They have ceased to exist across much of the country and they have been reduced geographically to a rump which really underlines what the party believes in. It is a city bound, progressive, anti British, pro mass migration movement which can’t wait to try and give up power to the EU. One thing it is definitely not anymore is the party of the working class. That trope is finally dead though no doubt they will keep repeating to an increasingly bewildered public.

The entire election or series of elections can best be described as a fuck you to the establishment except in Scotland where the SNP has managed to hold on to its position for a little while longer. Looking through the results though you can see the seeds of the end of their ghastly rule starting to sprout. The rise of Reform and the Greens but more than anything in the pitiful turn out at just over 50%. This perfectly summed the public mood everywhere - a sullen disinterest in a political system which is seen to have failed though in Scotland without a rallying alternative for now.

Will Starmer stay or go is now the question though it is of secondary interest to me. The man is a political pox but lets face it none of the alternatives are any better. Furthermore the Labour party is simply vile and I say that as a former supporter. It is completely bonkers, it despises the public and truthfully it is not fit to run a mid sized caravan park such is the dearth of talent on the frontbenches. I mean come on just look at them - most should not be in parliament let alone in government but that is their best of the best. It is like expecting the SAS and getting Dads Army.

Watching the media I am still surprised though that many people struggle to grasp why Starmer is hated. I mean just go forth and ask a few people in any pub or at any dining table. He is the archetype of the system which everyone now despises. He lies, cheats and fails to do even the basics and yet still stands around pretending that he is better than everyone else. His rule has been a long litany of failures and screw ups which of course have always been someone else’s fault - never his of course.

His response to the Southport massacre finished him for many for it perfectly encapsulated the system. He lied, threatened and then utterly failed to comfort the nation during a moment when the unspeakable had been done. An act that anyone with kids immediately felt at a very personal level as it could have happened to any of us. The system as represented by him was more interested in covering up the truth than delivering justice. When historians look back and analyse when the Westminster system finally died this will be one of the major points. It crushed trust in the state and finally brought into the open the question of Britishness and migration.

Regardless, Labour will no doubt now have an extended civil war over succession - it is just a shame they won’t use real weapons. However nothing will save the party in my opinion. It is a hollowed out shell of what it used to be. It has no ideas and no vision for the future and so all it seems capable of doing is reheating the old which have been tried, failed and been rejected by the public previously - right down to the cast of characters Mandelson, Powell and now Harman and Brown. Liberalism has eaten the party alive like woodworm and now the degraded structures are collapsing - good.

The death of the Labour party is in my opinion a prerequisite for national renewal. Like forest thinning we need to clear space for new parties and movements to emerge. Currently that space is being taken up by the Greens but I suspect their time will be relatively short lived as they achieve the impossible and that is to make Labour look sane by comparison. However this will not stop much of the PLP from driving the party leftward because that is where most of them want to be even if it does kill it - more power to their elbows. One should never get in the way of those doing your job for you.

To be honest the entire sorry situation just feels slightly irrelevant when you consider what is going on in and out of the country. The dumbest war in world history continues in the Middle East as Iran and the US try to demonstrate who has the higher pain threshold. Supply chains are starting to break down as key inputs from the region run out including sulphur, helium, aluminium, fertiliser and gas. Then of course you have the oil shock which most people beyond higher prices have yet to feel as we have used up the floating surplus but soon shortages will start to come to the fore.

However what really matters more than anything is the impact of the war on the bond market. Higher input prices are leading to higher future inflation expectations which is driving yields steeply higher. This is a challenge for all countries but the UK due to our idiotic energy system and bond issuance is uniquely exposed. The entire uniparty gets the blame for leading us to this point. However Labour is in power and they have managed to make a bad problem far worse by hammering growth with excess regulation, tax rises and borrowing - Reeves is almost certainly going to hit the wall in terms of fiscal headroom this year. The markets are not stupid and they are following calamity Jane closely.

Now this should be causing a ripple of concern within the government and broader governing party but alas they are not exactly the brains of Britain. The level of ignorance within the party over the financial markets and how the world actually works is frankly staggering. This is what happens when you recruit from charities and the public sector - you get people who are woefully unprepared for dealing with things as they think emoting is a solid replacement for policy, planning and preparation hence the staggering mess that they have made to date. Bluntly put I think we are heading towards a financial crisis very soon and I don’t think Labour or the broader left are ready for what that means.

So the competition to replace Starmer with the next Z grader is actually largely irrelevant as whoever comes to power will still be stuck with the same fiscal and political situation. The state will still be spending way too much on welfare and crap like illegal migrants, the energy system driven by net zero zealotry will still be destroying the economy and the PLP will still be utterly unwilling to swerve as all of these policy areas are considered holy writ even as the country and their own party goes down in flames because of them.

I mean the favoured candidate to replace Starmer - a Mr A Burnham from Manchester is just another example of this. His great pitch is Manchesterism which no one seems to understand what it means least of all him. His policy prescriptions include more of the same, especially borrowing whilst not being “in hock to the bond market”. Of course Andy it is as simple as that! He shows a borderline comic disconnection from reality matched only by his own mendacious positioning as he smoothly supports and dumps any idea that might get him closer to the black door of number 10.

So now we just wait as the media and politicians pick over the results of the elections. In terms of the day to day lives of the British public it actually makes little difference who from Labour is Prime Minister. However I am sure that I am not alone in wanting to never hear Starmer’s annoying whiny voice ever again. At this point I feel like the only choice is do you want a fiscal crisis sooner or later as I can’t see any way out of it. I definitely have zero belief that the Labour party will have an epiphany and reset their entire worldview so it matches reality - especially with the bonkers Greens on the prowl.

From a personal perspective I would rather it comes sooner as I believe the longer it goes until we have a break the worse it will be. This is especially true for the most vulnerable in society as a bond market strike would likely mean cuts across the board rather than logical and well designed ones to slice away wasteful spending and encourage growth. Worth noting that most of the stuff that needs to happen would be welcomed by a majority but such is the political irrationality on the left they just won’t deliver it. So instead like the Titanic we keep charging towards the iceberg at full steam.

The last laugh would likely come from the right though as any financial crisis would in my opinion see the current government collapse leading to new elections and a likely coalition between the Conservatives and Reform to right the ship so to speak. This would see massive changes to our energy policy, welfare system, migration and more as an angry bond market would force them to make the choices that consecutive governments have welched on for at least the last decade. We can only hope this would be short term pain for long term gain - helping to set the country up for the future.

Elections are exciting and as a democrat I love the pomp and tradition which goes with them. However, beyond hopefully improving governance at different levels they also perform another vital function for society. They allow citizens to vent publicly about the state of the country creating pressure for a change of direction and that is the message I have taken from these ones. I hope and I pray that Westminster and beyond listens and does swerve because if not either the bond market will grab the wheel or the public will simply reach for the pitchforks and lengths of rope.

It is late in the day but there is still time.