Why a general election is the only solution in salvaging the Tory turmoil.
Today Liz Truss resigned, but what else is new? Following the collapse of Truss' premiership, the UK will now face its fourth Prime Minister this year. However, this isn't due to Liz Truss being a 'bad apple' within the Tory party, but because the Tory party itself is a tree of bad apples that continues to grow and rot. The chaos that has been caused by the Conservatives did not begin with Truss. Nor did it begin with Covid, or Brexit, it began 12 years ago.
Since the election of David Cameron, the UK has seen three Prime Ministers elected not by the general public, but by the Tory party and their members, and we are about to see a fourth. Is this a democracy?
According to Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, "Liz truss trashed the British economy with her unfunded tax cuts, before her Boris Johnson failed our country with his dishonesty and law breaking, the Tories have shown that they're incapable of providing the leadership, they're no fit to govern our country, we don’t need a new conservative prime minister, they need to go".
Leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer has compared the Conservative Party to a Soap Opera, stuck in a revolving door of chaos. Starmer is unapologetically critical of the Conservative law of the land, scrutinising the damage they have caused to the economy. However, what is starkly apparent within Starmer's criticism, is that the Conservative government continues to put real lives in jeopardy. This is a sobering reality, and when questioned on whether a general election would cause further prolonged instability, Starmer explained that by risking a continuation of conservative chaos, the British political economy may spiral even further out of control.
The movements for a general election are getting louder. So far, the Labour Party, UK Liberal Democrats, Scottish Liberal Democrats, Welsh Liberal Democrats, SNP , and the Green Party have called for a general election. However, there are no mechanisms in place to implement such. It, therefore, yet again, falls into the hands of the divided Conservative party to vote for one. Furthermore, reports are currently surfacing that despite his resignation only three months ago, Boris Johnson may be one of the many potential contenders for Truss' replacement. The prospect of Johnson's return raises serious concerns for the future of British politics and demonstrates the unconstitutional nature of the Conservative party ethos. When questioned by Sky News reporter Mark Austin earlier today, Labour MP David Lammy put such a predicament into perspective:
"Do they [the British public] really want someone to return to run our country with a sleaze inquiry hanging over his head, who demonstrably lied to the British people and parliament, while many people, I'm afraid, experienced loss in their in families was partying in Number 10. Do we really want that? Do we really want anyone who has been associated with the last 12 years of the Tories running this country without actually returning to the people and asking what they want at this extraordinarily difficult economic time?"
The Conservative party continue to demonstrate their inability to provide a mandate to remain in government, they are divided between themselves, and continue to cut the public out. If the Conservative party were to call an election, they would likely suffer a disastrous result and potentially lose the majority, if not all of their parliamentary seats, leaving Labour with a record breaking majority of 273 seats. Therefore, the chances of a general election being called any time soon is highly unlikely.
However, this is precisely where the core issue of democracy lies. The voices of the few dictate the future of the many. According to David Lammy, "It is absolutely clear that to stabilise our democracy, so that the British people can choose a version of how they want the country to run for the next 5 years, that there should be a general election".
Therefore, if Liz Truss truly understood her own words, "I am a democrat", it should not be up to the governing party to continue imposing incapable leaders upon the British people, but instead must be the people themselves who decide their own fate. Politics is not a self-serving industry, and as long as those in power continue to prioritise party over people, the burdens of high inflation, the cost of living crisis, energy crisis, mortgage crisis and further damages will continue being inflicted upon the British people.
If the Tories continue to disregard the democratic right that the British public have in deciding who runs the country, then a relentless campaign for a general election must begin from the bottom up. Political parties in opposition to the Conservatives are already uniting in calls for a general election, and so the British Public must also come together and demonstrate their democratic rights. The British people are within their right to decide how they want the country to be governed for the next five years, and there is no longer any other choice but to mobilise together in unity for a general election.
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