The fall of standards in British politics and in so many other institutions has been going on for almost 20 years.
Over the past few months a bemused world is watching the British political scene slide into chaos and a dystopian nightmare. It would be a mistake however to think that this situation has just happened suddenly. The fall of standards in British politics and in so many other institutions has been going on for almost 20 years. At the same time corruption and sleaze has increased spectacularly. The Labour Party led by Tony Blair took the country to war in Iraq, while he and Gordon Brown were involved in intense internal struggles at the detriment of the country. David Cameron proved himself out of death as a leader and gambled on defeat of the Brexiteers and lost. The consequences of a small island nation leaving the European Union are being felt strongly. Under Cameron, corruption and sleaze grew unchecked. Meanwhile, the Labour Party went off the rails as the leader Jeremy Corbyn tried to drag the party into a uncompromising extreme left-wing direction. The party came to be known as anti-Semitic and anti-India. Luckily, the party now has a sober and principled leader, who would be a good Prime Minister. Going back to the shenanigans of the Conservative Party under Boris Johnson it seemed like for him all the rules were to be contemptuously torn up. The Covid crisis resulted in a huge death toll and none of his ministers seemed to have a clue as to what was going on. Right in the middle of the deadly crisis the Secretary of the State for Health was having an affair with his secretary. The corruption that took place in placing orders for Personal Protective Equipment ran into billions of pounds. £10 billion spent on PPE equipment was written off as the product was either sub-standard, defective, overpriced or not delivered. Not one individual has been made accountable.
Boris Johnson and some of his ministers and civil servants were ignoring the restrictions to curb the spread of the virus. This turned out to be Johnson’s Achilles heel. He was unceremoniously thrown out only to be replaced by Liz Truss. She along with her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng decided that the richest people in the country should be given a 20% tax break. Meanwhile, the masses of people are finding it difficult to make ends meet. People are going without food. Tens of thousands of people are depending on free food handouts. A winter is upon the country and the energy prices have skyrocketed. Inevitably, she had to go. Astonishingly, Boris Johnson wanted to come back in the leadership contest!
Instead Rishi Sunak a young, brilliant leader of Indian origin too up the reins of the country. A country that Britain ruled for 200 years and which got independence 75 years ago is ready to have an Indian Prime Minister. What would have Winston Churchill make of it or even Gandhi? Meanwhile, the former Prime Ministers have one last privilege, apart from getting almost £140,000 every year forever. They will be able to appoint their friends to the House of Lords. If there is one institution that is an example of all that is wrong with Britain it is the House of Lords. It is an exclusive club for which you get paid over £300 for just turning up.
For those who are puzzled as to how Britain has come to this low point we need to take a look at the Hindu epic Mahabharata. When Droupadi was being disrobed all the senior leaders, all the wisest people were present. But they remained helpless spectators. Somehow their valour and their moral outrage could not turn into action. Similarly, some of the great politicians, thinkers and intellectuals are just watching the events unfold in the UK. They are powerless and dejected. This is what is called the might of the unstoppable time. When your time runs out, nothing works. So a mighty nation which ruled a huge part of the world is struggling to govern this small island.
Nitin Mehta is the founder of Indian Cultural Centre, London.