Rishi Sunak, the British prime minister, must often ponder why he bothered seeking the leadership of the Conservative Party. After another week bruising week in parliament, he would have had more success herding cats at a crossroads than trying to marshal the cannibalistic tendencies of the maverick misfits on his backbenches.
To add to this indignity, Sir Simon Clarke MP (described as a “senior Tory”) called on Sunak to go, as he believed the latter was leading the Tories towards an election massacre.
Clarke is unlikely to be a household name to Irish News readers or indeed to many voters in Britain. He was a cabinet minister for all of 12 months under the charlatan Boris Johnson and then was secretary for housing and levelling up for a mere 49 days in the ill fated administration of Liz Truss.
Truss (the prime minister who did for the UK economy what myxomatosis does for rabbits) rewarded Clarke with a knighthood in her much criticised resignation honours.
Clarke has previous form as a would-be political assassin as he previously was part of the coup which undermined Theresa May.
But let’s share a little secret with Mr Clarke. After 15 years of Tory corruption, political graft and sheer incompetence, his party is in disarray and will be massacred at the general election. They are out of steam, out of ideas and out of their minds - and hopefully will soon be out of office too.
The rot started with Cameron, accelerated with Johnson and went over the cliff with Truss... Sunak is to blame too, part of the collective madness which infected the Tory party over Brexit
Unfortunately what survives in the Tory party after the next general election will be even more extreme, more right wing and more reactionary than the current lot. Since 2016, the Conservatives have been in a race to the bottom; increasingly talentless, devoid of morals, unethical in governance and rotten to the core. They are now sewer swimming.
The rot started with Cameron, accelerated with Johnson and went over the cliff with Truss. Sunak is to blame too but not in the way Clarke states. Sunak is part of the collective madness which infected the Tory party over Brexit.
Theresa May is starting to look like a political colossus when compared to her successors. She certainly must have had a chuckle over her corn flakes when she read that Sunak is considering revamping her backstop in an effort to coax the DUP back into office.
May’s biggest mistake was to take the fatal phone call from Arlene Foster when she was in Brussels negotiating. Foster should have been deflected to a junior civil servant whilst May carried on with her designated role as prime minister and concluded the deal with the EU.
Of course, here in the north, the lunacy over Brexit continues with the Orange Order, flute bands and the UVF trying to ramp up tensions over the Windsor Framework. Jeffrey Donaldson did well when he called out his tormentors in parliament. Those who threatened him should hang their heads in shame.
Bully Billy Boy types need faced down not courted and indulged but unfortunately, far too often some mainstream unionists blurred the lines of acceptability by sharing platforms with individuals and organisations best left in the cold.
There are similarities between hardline unionists and right wing Tories - they have the instincts of the Borgias and as Cesare Borgia once said: “Never presume that I will not act on my worst instincts.”
