If you have made the mistake of following the Tory leadership election then you will, presuming you suspended your disbelief, now know that we are facing a bright future under Liz Truss, where growth, prosperity, light touch regulation, low tax and strong international trade will deliver us all we have ever aspired to.
In fact, more than that, the climate crisis will, under her rule, be so insignificant it can be ignored; the rule of law will no longer be required; every town, village and hamlet will be a freeport making its own regulations and laws under the benign guidance of a company given the task of doing so; and the land will flow with milk and honey.
None of this is true, of course.
This morning we have news of drought and the risk of hose pipe bans and even outright water shortages.
There is also a warning of power cust to come this winter as electricity supply will not meet demand.
Avanti has just axed two-thirds of its train services on the West Coast mainline.
Six million people are waiting for NHS treatment.
Half the UK's households do not know how they will pay their fuel bills when the average energy price increases to £4,200pa this winter. The likelihood that many will simply be unable to pay is high.
As a consequence, the rest of the economy is under severe threat of recession.
A banking crisis is possible as rents go unpaid, landlords fail to service their debts, joining those mortgage holders who will be in the same boat.
Schools and hospitals face impossible choices due to their increasing energy costs this winter.
Hardly talked about, but something I fear greatly is the risk that many care homes - which have to be warm - will simply be unable to afford to carry on trading this winter as those they p[provide for cannot pay increased bills, creating a massive care crisis.
It is actually quite hard to think of anything that is working well in the UK now, and which is not at risk of failure quite soon.
The Tory leadership election is taking place in some fantasy space created by a political party wholly out of touch with reality. The difficulty is that one of those taking part - and making the absurd promises on offer to the Tory party faithful, will be governing us soon. There is little sign that they will embrace reality then.
We are in deep, deep trouble.
Richard Murphy
10/08/22
