After 14 years of Conservative rule marked by economic crises, political turmoil, and social decline, the UK has only one party to blame: The Conservatives. Here’s the full story.
A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Conservative party has been in power for 14 years, and during that time, the UK has had two economic calamities, five Prime Ministers, one Brexit referendum, countless attempts to get Brexit done, sky-high inflation, and a cost of living crisis caused by wage growth which is at its lowest level since the Napoleonic Wars.
Election Chaos
Now the country has the final indignity of a general election campaign in which politicians of all colours seem to be taking the whole concept of British democracy as a joke by betting on the election, the far right looking to have meaningful seats in Parliament for the first time and political parties offering no hope in their fully costed manifestos.
How Did We Get Here?
How did we get here? How did the UK end up as the laughing stock of a continent increasingly full of laughing stocks?
It Begins With Austerity
It begins with a Conservative Prime Minister called David Cameron or, more specifically, his Chancellor, George Osborne, and their promise when they came to power following the 2008 financial crisis to fix the country’s economic woes with one magic word: austerity.
Austerity Measures
Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Conservative government immediately implemented stringent austerity measures, cutting the public sector to the bone. While Conservatives argued it was necessary to showcase the county’s fiscal responsibility, critics have argued that austerity was a politically motivated tactic to shrink the role of government.
Healthcare Devastation
Public spending cuts have been particularly devastating for the healthcare sector, leading to underfunded and overburdened services. The cumulative damage of austerity has resulted in a decline in the quality of public services, contributing to a broader economic malaise that continues to affect Britain.
European Comparisons
Other European countries that decided to spend their way out of the recession, such as France and Germany, are in a considerably better economic position than countries that did, like the UK.
Rise of Food Banks
The swift introduction of brutal austerity led to a new term in the UK: food banks. Since the Conservatives took power, instances of severe poverty have increased significantly, with approximately 3 million children facing severe poverty in what remains the sixth richest country in the world.
Victorian-Era Diseases Return.
This has led to malnutrition, which has become so bad that Victorian-era diseases like rickets are once again afflicting poor children, causing terrible educational outcomes and instances of children arriving at school hungry. The number of food banks has skyrocketed to around 2,800 today, meaning there are more food banks than hospitals to treat malnourished children in the UK.
Living Cost Crisis
The dramatic rise in food and living costs, coupled with insufficient increases in benefits, has pushed many families further into poverty. Despite evidence of rising hunger, successive governments have ignored the issue, with policies such as the two-child limit and benefits cap exacerbating poverty, particularly among families.
Charities Overwhelmed
The situation has become so dire that charities and food banks are struggling to cope with the rising demand, as many donors face financial difficulties and can no longer contribute as they once did.
Scapegoating Migrants
Feeling increasingly like neither the country nor politics was working, the British public looked around for a scapegoat. Fearing that the scapegoat of the public would be them, Conservative politicians found a new one and gleefully fed it to the UK’s right-wing media to sate the public’s appetite for revenge.
Anti-Migrant Policies
So it was that, instead of looking up at a Conservative Party run by the graduates of the most expensive private schools in the country, the public, with their attention drawn by the Conservative supporting newspapers, looked down upon migrants coming to the UK.
Conservative Dilemmas
Every single Conservative Prime Minister has had to deal with the fact that there are large sections of the Conservative base who want to stop all migration, either for unsound economic reasons or racist ones.
Migrant-Targeting Measures
Every Conservative Prime Minister since Cameron has thrown migrants to this base in some way to satisfy them: Cameron gave them the Brexit referendum to lower migration, which has not worked. Theresa May gave them the hostile environment policy to scare away illegal migrants, which led to the Windrush scandal; Boris Johnson promised to get Brexit done and, arguably, just kicked the can down the road; Liz Truss wasn’t around long enough to throw anyone under the bus except her former best friend and Chancellor, and Rishi Sunak promised to “stop the boats.”
Policy Consequences
What has the Conservative Party gained from these policies? The UK has crashed out of the EU, the Windrush scandal ruined the lives of countless migrants who came here legally, and the Conservative Party is haemorrhaging votes to a party that comes out and says racist things rather than subtly hinting at them: Reform UK.
Broken Britain
The Conservatives have left the UK poorer, more divided, and hungrier and have led to the country’s rivers being hazardous to health, the collapse of the dream of home ownership and, strangely, several companies run by friends of well-placed Conservatives made a killing during the COVID-19 pandemic, while thousands of unlucky people just got killed.
Polls Reflect Anger
The Conservatives have broken Britain, and the polls show it. The nation of “Keep Calm and Carry On” has finally had enough. When the election arrives in just a few days, political analysts warn of an “extinction-level event” for the Conservative Party.
Uncertain Future
It remains to be seen if some rump of the party that has led us to this precipice will be allowed to return or if it will finally succumb to the far right it has tried, and failed, to appease for the last 14 years.
The post From Prosperity to Ruin: The Conservatives’ Impact on Britain first appeared on Now Buzz.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / IR Stone.