We know the problem
A diagnosis isn't the same as a cure
Dear lovely people,
The Royal Family are in crisis. I feel like they are frequently in crisis.
Like the promises that Camilla would be Princess Consort and never ‘Queen’, this crisis isn’t real.
Are we now heading inexorably for a republic?
I don’t think so.
Will any of the public funding they receive be cut? Probably not.
Does the public think any less of any of them? Has anyone woken up this morning thinking that King Charles is a rotter who didn’t think that yesterday morning?
I think it’s probably a good thing for the Royal Family. Everyone has known that this creep is a creep for so long now. We can all see that the law applies to him, too. We have proof of this.
If there were an election for King, I think the King would probably win. Or maybe William. The eventual candidate list would be interesting.
The King is gonna King. His subjects are gonna sing about God saving him. The police are gonna police.
So, for whom is this a crisis?
Peace and love,
Tatton x
Free your mind of doubt and danger
Be for real, don't be a stranger
We can achieve it, we can achieve itCome a little bit closer baby
Get it on, get it on
'Cause tonight is the night when two become oneSpice Girls
It’s 2026. There is no cure for that.
Robert Jenrick was unveiled this week as Reform’s ‘Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer’. Except he wasn’t, of course, because ‘Shadow Chancellor’ is a technical term and applies to the Official Opposition - the Conservatives.
He was, therefore, unveiled as the ‘Reform Treasury Spokesperson But With A Pretentious And Misleading Title’, the RTSBWAPAMT for short.
Anyway, enough nit picking, here’s an extract of his brief speech:
‘People are suffering. Everyone in the country feels hard up right now.
People are working all hours and then they get to the weekend and they’ve got nothing left.
The normal expectations of life feel like luxuries right now. People just want to get on.
…
They want to go on holiday, they want to take their kids out for a meal. For so many people, across the country, these things feel out of reach.’
Does that sound familiar?
Last month, we had a party political broadcast from the Green Party. Zack Polanski was talking about how we all have to keep running all the time. In it he said:
‘When did everything become such a luxury? Going to a cafe... No holiday this year, sorry kids.
…
You take a second job, sometimes three, just to stay where you are.’
They’re describing the same problem. The exact same problem.
Reform talk about ‘Alarm Clock Britain’ - the people who set their alarms and go to work.
These things are cyclical and the exact term was used by Clegg’s Liberal Democrats in 2011. At the time, Charlie Brooker wrote: ‘Alarm Clock Britain consists of people who use alarm clocks. That counts me out, because I wake each morning to the sound of my own despairing screams.’ He refers to himself as ‘Scream Wake Britain’.
Perhaps the Green Party are generally part of ‘Scream Wake Britain’.
We’re working hard, we’re trying to get by, but life is really, really hard.
In Endgame, Samuel Beckett wrote: ‘You’re on Earth. There is no cure for that.’
Well, it is 2026 and there is no cure for that either.
Next week we’re going to see the Greens and Reform battle it out to win a byelection. Both are campaigning on exactly this point. Things aren’t working.
This, perhaps, is a good position in which to be. We’re beginning to see some consensus on the issue. That specific feeling that the odds are stacked against us. That the dice were loaded from the start. It’s near ubiquity. It pinpoints exactly where we are.
There are a myriad of reasons for it. I believe that the impact of the pandemic is impossible to over state, but this all goes much, much deeper than that, too.
As the song goes, now that we’ve found consensus, what are we going to do with it?
There is no consensus on solution; politics is about choosing. Reform will lay out their plans to get us out of this. The Greens will lay out theirs. All the rest of ‘em, too, they’ll suggest some bits and bobs. We, the public, will choose.
Monday - We will, finally, get to see the government’s plans for SEND education. It’s going to be a huge and important moment in many people’s lives.
Tuesday - The Lib Dems get to choose the agenda today.
Wednesday - A General Debate on Ukraine follows PMQs
Thursday - General Debates on ‘St David’s Day and Welsh Affairs’ and Government Support for Bereaved Children.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill - that’s the assisted dying bill - is back in the Lords next Friday. It’s second up in it’s limited Friday slot. It is due to be debated every Friday possible, but it still looks like it won’t make it through the stages in time.
I’m keeping an eye on this and will have a deeper dive into where we go from here in a future week.
Yesterday it was The Wonderful Katie’s birthday. We went to a big old country house hotel and, for supper, ate from their ‘25 mile menu’ - with all ingredients having come from within 25 miles of the place. There was a map on the back of the menu.
It was really good.
Ben E. King played there in 1969, so the strains of Stand By Me have been floating through my head, too.
Be well x
Don’t forget the diagnosis should include the continuing extremely adverse affect of Brexit & the awful FPTP system which is not fit for purpose & should be replaced by PR before we get any REAL accountability.