Author Archives: Mark Valladares

It does occasionally seem that, instead of a government, we have the equivalent of a Latin American telenovela, with a plot line that lasts for a mere season. And, just when you might think that the plot has become too absurd, some even more unlikely script emerges.

Meanwhile, in the Commons, not much is happening, as Richard Foord noted on Tuesday:

It says a lot that it's 2:27pm on a Tuesday afternoon and MPs have already discussed the only bit of substantive business the Government has brought forward. I know many say Ministers are out of ideas, but this is just ridiculous.

— Richard Foord MP (@RichardFoordLD) June 6, 2023

And, in truth, much of what they are doing is likely to be ineffective or aimed at making vulnerable people more so. In fairness, it’s rather busier at the Lords end of the Palace of Westminster. Which reminds me…

Of course, the Government has its five priorities, one of which is to reduce inflation. I was intrigued by some polling by Redfield & Wilton,

When Rishi Sunak says he aims to halve inflation, British voters think he aims to get… (7 June)

Prices to decrease 47%
Prices to increase more slowly 42%
Don't know 11% pic.twitter.com/0llokiJO2Q

— Redfield & Wilton Strategies (@RedfieldWilton) June 10, 2023

which suggests that nearly half of those polled expected that, when Rishi Sunak says he aims to halve inflation, prices will fall. That in turn suggests that those people are going to be disappointed even if he reaches his target. This doesn’t augur well for a Conservative recovery and, in truth, even if inflation overall was reduced to 5% or less, if people still feel poorer, they’re hardly going to give Rishi much credit.

No sooner have I got back from the ALDE Party Congress in Stockholm than I’m off to the US for some grandparent time. There’s no doubt that the world is a smaller place than it was, but whilst politicians in other countries are at least attempting to deal with the big issues, inflation, climate change, our Government seems determined to cling to its culture war to distract from the fact that they have little idea what to do about things that matter to most of us.

Picking on the vulnerable is not governing, it’s bullying.

Mixing with liberal politicians from across Europe offers a reassurance that politics can be a way of improving things for the better through collaboration and cooperation. And yes, that does involve quite a lot of pragmatism but, if you want to bring people along with you, sometimes you can’t get everything you want. Some is better than none.

I ought to start by apologising for the sense of editorial absence in recent weeks. In truth, I’ve struggled a bit for motivation but let’s see if we can get back on the horse and push on…

We won… and wasn’t it great?

So, the world of local government in England is a rather different place, as Liberal Democrat groups across the country have found themselves, expectedly or otherwise, in a position where they may, or may not, be part of administrations. Here in Suffolk, for example, the Conservatives lost control of Mid Suffolk, West Suffolk and East Suffolk, and Liberal Democrats are part of the mix in East Suffolk and Babergh. Here in Mid Suffolk, the Greens swept to power, taking twenty-four of the thirty-four seats to become the first majority Green administration in the Northern Hemisphere (and don’t we all know it?…).

And you might recognise the theory behind Green Party claims that the new Waveney Valley constituency is in play – after all, we tend to do the same thing after local government success. But, whilst we had an excellent set of results on 4 May, there are places where we are challenged by the Greens, and we need to give some thought to addressing where we’ve been pushed into third/fourth place by them.

Look, I told you. Governance matters…

I freely admit that I do “bang on” about governance quite a lot in these (mostly) weekly pieces. And that might well be because I’m a bureaucrat and the sort of person that reads constitutions so that I know what my remit is and what the rules are. But I also know that mutual respect, even when you disagree, and a mind open to enough honest doubt to accept that you might not always be right, tends to produce better outcomes.

But it tells you a lot that the Conservative response to the Raab fiasco is …