‘Blue-on-blue’ bickering makes a lively spectacle – but it gives a narrow, rightwing frame to bigger, broader issues
The timetable for the Tory leadership was supposed to be tight, installing a replacement for Boris Johnson without gratuitous delay. But in the absence of a functional government, it feels interminable. Mr Johnson has awarded himself a summer of gardening leave, despite mounting evidence that Britain is heading for an autumn of discontent, leading to a winter of strife. A massive energy price shock is due when the cap on domestic bills is lifted at the start of October. Inflation is degrading household incomes. The lack of direction from Downing Street would be problem enough, but the character of the leadership contest – petty, bitter and unequal to scale of the task ahead – compounds the impression of a country drifting aimlessly into crisis.
Neither of the candidates has displayed any imagination in responding to the cost of living crisis. Also, the contest gives them incentive to appeal only to a tiny, mostly wealthy, retired, propertied electorate. Their prescriptions for shielding people from the coming storm are written for an audience that is disproportionately protected already.
