“Hasta la vista, baby!” The announced “reunion” took place three hours after Boris Johnson ended his last appearance in the British House of Commons with this vague farewell. Not with the prime minister by invitation, but with her political lieutenant Liz Truss, she qualified for a run-off against former finance minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday night.
If Johnson’s foreign secretary is elected Tory leader and the Conservatives elect the new prime minister, Great Britain is threatened with déjà vu, with economic policy driven by ideology rather than economic reason.
The former Liberal Democrat and former supporter of British EU membership has become a key figure on the political right and Brexit orthodoxy in a remarkable political turnaround.
This is not good for the UK economy. Truce marks a tough course in the trade conflict with the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol. In Great Britain’s fight against the stagnation crisis, it has relied on the panacea of conservative economic policy: tax cuts.
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In doing so, she could convince a predominantly older, male and Eurosceptic party base that Maggie Thatcher would not end Britain’s economic woes.
>> Read here: Rishi Sunak – The Downing Street perfectionist is now close to his big goal
The ailing kingdom needed less ideology and more British pragmatism after the chaotic Johnson era. Given the sharp rise in the cost of living, citizens and companies must be relieved. However, hard consolidated state funding should not be sacrificed for this.
Targeted financial support for private households and attractive discount options for companies are better than widespread tax breaks.
The harsh reality, not only for the British but also for other industrialized countries, is that the crippling combination of high inflation rates and geopolitical upheavals is making everyone poorer. Truss pretends to his compatriots that low taxes and nationalist tones in trade policy are a shortcut from the worst economic crisis in 50 years, even though Sunak is at least not afraid to say so.
No vision, no talent
With the idea of compassionate conservatism (“stabilization”), Boris Johnson had at least one guiding principle for unifying a kingdom shaped by class differences, economic inequality and historical-cultural tensions. However, he lacks perseverance and talent.
Truss does not have a unified vision for Britain, nor do his proposals address the economic potential to pull the country out of crisis. At least Sunak has economic skills.
Further: Mordant exits – Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss compete to succeed Johnson
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