The overwhelming feeling generated by this morning's news is that our political leaders are massively out of tune with the people of the UK as a whole.
Take the so-called Elgin Marbles, or Parthenon Sculptures, as they are more appropriately described. To my own surprise, I ended up discussing these on Radio 2 yesterday. I was on the side of their return, without conditions, and with a note of apology attached. I am not alone. This is the result of a poll on this issue taken in 2021:
The poll was of 7,717 people by YouGov. I think we can be pretty sure that Sunak has got this horribly wrong. Rowing with the Greek government over something about which most in the UK are clear we are in the wrong is really not a very good look.
He got his anti-green measures horribly wrong, too. After the Uxbridge by-election, he thought that attacking the environment and being pro-motorist was the way to go. In light of the imminent COP28 summit, he is now desperately trying to repolish his green credentials. As the Guardian reports:
Rishi Sunak is to announce a new package of green measures as the Cop28 UN climate summit begins in Dubai, including a search for a national park, a strategy on British rainforests and landscape recovery projects with farmers.
But green groups have told the Guardian the package is greenwashing and an attempt by the UK prime minister to “reset” his reputation after previously opposing environmental measures.
The total package amounts to a few tens of millions, relatively widely spread. It is probably no more than the cost of shipping the UK delegation to COP28 when all the costs are taken into account. And some of the measures, like trying to fund another national park when those we have are woefully underfunded because of austerity, are just absurd.
More importantly, no one is going to be fooled. It is obvious that the government has backtracked on green issues. A little greenwashing will not help.
But there again, Labour is doing little better. It lost four councillors and its majority on Norwich City Council last night, with those leaving becoming independents. As those leaving said:
After long and careful consideration we have made the heartbreaking decision to leave the Labour Party and become independent councillors.
There are many reasons, but in essence we no longer consider the current national and local Labour Party matches the overriding principles that guide our work as Town Close councillors.
Most of those who left represented the ward referred to. What is clear is that they think the direction of Labour's travel is against the interests of those that they represent. The struggle to pretend otherwise has obviously got to them.
In each case, the message is clear: our political leadership is out of touch with people. There is no way that they deserve our support as a result.
And then people wonder why, as a country, we are in trouble.
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There will have to be a lot more heartbreaking decisions like that before Kier ‘Trilateral’ Starmer takes any notice.
I do not care for memes; but the meme that struck me was a media meme on the Elgin episode, that effectively summarises the whole Sunak Prime Ministership, and I would paraphrase as: where are the grown-ups?
Sunak, Truss, Johnson. Do you see a pattern here?
Grown ups? Not in the Conservative Party, it is too recherché.
For me, the key point in your suggestion is return “without condition”.
Apart from it being “the right thing to do” it creates goodwill. Besides an apology that is not unconditional is not an apology…. when will politicians learn this.
Probably never
Whilst I have a huge amount of empathy for those councillors, now is not the time to rock the boat. In our daft winner-takes-all political system, any move that weakens Labour automatically strengthens the Conservatives. Securing a Labour win must be the top priority, until that’s achieved. Then we can focus on fixing what’s wrong with Starmer’s leadership.
If he wins outright he will not change
Norwich needs a Green MP in the north seat
It already has a good one in the south
I have left the Labour Party in despair, and will CERTAINLY be voting Green here in Norwich North.
The Norwich South MP is not in the Green Party, being the Labour MP, Clive Lewis, but he is certainly sound on Green issues – properly so, unlike his mendacious and dissembling Leader, Starmer, of unblesséd presence. Would Clive were LOTO rather than Starmer.
The only thing that prevents me from joining the Green Party is that I’d have to resign from the Co-operative Party – would that they’d sever their link with the rotting carcase of Starmer’s Faux-Labour Party.
Are you sure that Clive Lewis MP is sound on green issues?
I’ve never heard him indicate that he understands the science of climate change, recognises that nuclear is par with wind and solar for CO2 emissions per MWh, and remarkably good for base load, and he has rejected taxation of CO2 emissions as he doesn’t believe taxes affect behaviours. If Clive Lewis understood that tax serves to reprice the economy he would know this.
Charismatic bloke for sure, but you wouldn’t want him near energy policy.
He’s the best Labour have on Duc issues
He also knows his weaknesses
Most members do not know that David Evans (Gen Sec) drew up a plan during the Blair era to centralise decision making (as in Soviet Russia) and remove most of the ability of member and branches to influence policy. This was enacted once appointed by Starmer, and was why I resigned from the Party. There is now a list of topics members are disbarred from discussing (“not competent business”); the first was the treatment of Corbyn. Members are now supposed to focus on ‘grassroots’ activity (i.e. not party policy); Starmer has unilaterally torn up the manifesto and longstanding policy, making the Party dance to the tune of his donors and masters.
Unpopular with the voters, even more unpopular with his own party, even Sunak must realise that he has no post General election future as a leading UK politician, so what is his motivation for this ridiculous Premiership?
Just another line on the CV?
The chance to do favours for his prospective Employers, Bankers, Investors?
Head Boy Syndrome?
Revenge on all those people that ever laughed at his tiny stature?
Trying to impress his wife’s family?
For a bet?
All of the above?
While you were discussing the Elgin Marbles, what weren’t you discussing?
And there you have it.
The latest polling from Scotland has just dropped. Suggesting an SNP landslide and a smattering of seats for Labour. Doubt this is the result Starmer and Sarwar will be hoping for:
https://twitter.com/LeftieStats/status/1729837887024222361
I had noted…..interesting
The poll was by Ipsos Mori and unlike most polls on this topic it wasn’t weighted by the voting in the 2014 referendum. The latter inevitably produce deflated support for independence because they don’t take account of an entirely different demographic – 9 years of declining over 65s being replaced by young voters who are more solidly pro-indy, as well as the impact of 9 years of increasingly incompetent governance by the UK Gov. I also read somewhere that the sample size was 5000 rather than the more usual 1000, so that too adds more reliability to the outcome.
As I posted to the recent debate here about the state of UK politics, the time has never been better (even given the massive upheavals in global matters) for Scotland to go for independence. I find it hard to imagine that Scotland could do a worse job of running our own affairs than we’ve seen from Westminster. It’s a case of getting into our own lifeboat rather than going down with the sinking ship.
A propos de rien, some years ago in early December I was the second person into the Parthenon museum – built near to the Acropolis (there was no queue – I walk straight in). I wandered the halls alone looking at some of the most remarkable pieces of art I have ever seen – but, the most amazing and humbling part was the small exhibtion that showed how Greeks 2500 years ago created the Parthenon marble frieze. I’m not going to tell you – you have to visit. There is one place for the Elgin marbles & it ain’t London. I explained the technique for making the marbles to somebody working for the British museum – in the museum section with the Elgin marbles – he looked at me doubfounded – he was not aware that they were made in that way.
Clever people the Greeks, they deserve a better hand than that which history dealt them.
Agreed
Total failure of imagination – how would we Brits feel if we were in the position of Greece? We have been fortunate as an island, not to have been invaded for over 1.000 years and had our heritage broken up and carted off. When the odd painting is threatened with sale abroad there’s an outcry and money found to prevent its export. Sunak’s rudeness, if not downright cowardliness, in not even meeting his Greek counterpart shows up Tory faux nationalism, as well no doubt, as a lot of other things. No doubt in Tory Party circles it’s another example of being “woke” to even consider returning them.
Anna, please do try to understand that ‘Brits’ aren’t just the English. Ask the Scots, Welsh and Irish if they’ve ever been invaded in the last 1000 years and the answer is ‘yes, innumerable times by the English’. I’m not trying to score political points here, just trying to get a little awareness that there are massive historic and cultural differences between the English and the Celtic nations. The constant conflation of UK/Britain with England only serves to intensify our irritation.
Such a good point
We were actually successfully invaded by the Dutch in the so-called Glorious or Bloodless Revolution of 1688. This is disregarded largely on the basis that William was invited to invade, however, this ignores the fact he discreetly asked that he be publicly asked in the (apparently accurate & here we are) belief it would make his intended invasion all the easier for the locals to accept. His ambitions remained just that, ambitions, till the Dutch banks got behind him and stumped up the relevant readies. Why would they do that? Probably so they could set up the banking system we have today where the banks in many senses rule. The book to read on this is Going Dutch by Professor Lisa Jardine https://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Dutch-England-Plundered-Hollands/dp/0007197322
It’s something of an eye-opener. Jardine avoids discussion of banking, not just in this book but in questions post lectures too, leading me to suspect she had ideas on this subject she preferred not to share.
They were legally paid for, in an open transaction, with a receipt. When I buy a loaf of bread that’s “looting” is it?
Your claim was true of slaves at the time.
Do you think there should still be slaves?
And Lord Elgin ‘lost’ the receipt, if it ever existed.
You are talking total nonsense.