Poor Rishi Sunak. The right wing establishment says he has little chance of winning of the next election and some even suggest it’s time to bring back Boris Johnson.
Others argue that Liz Truss was right to pursue her unfunded tax cutting agenda even though she trashed the economy, sent inflation and mortgage rates soaring and triggered a run on the pound.
While Rishi is being pressed by the right to cut taxes, no matter what the circumstances, the prime minister has said his priority is to reduce inflation.
He is not being given credit for stabilising the economy. Inflation was getting towards 11 per cent under Truss but now that Rishi has been in power for just over 100 days, the outlook is less grim.
Although cartoons are meant to be caricatures, one cartoonist makes him look much darker than he is probably to convey a subliminal message to readers that “he is not one of us”.
The Bank of England said in its forecast: “We expect inflation to begin to fall from the middle of this year and be around 4 per cent by the end of the year. We expect it to continue falling towards our 2 per cent target after that.”
The UK narrowly avoided the expected recession in the second half of 2022 but the Daily Telegraph ran a leader, “Pitiful UK growth cannot be blamed on Brexit.”
However, the consensus among economists is that Brexit isn’t working and has led to a 4 per cent reduction in the GDP. The UK voted 52-48 to leave the EU in 2016 but a majority now think that was a big mistake even though there is now no way back.
Even though Boris is mired in various scandals, an article in the Daily Telegraph on Monday by Iain Dale, a presenter on LBC talk radio, predicted: “A Boris comeback is starting to look inevitable. Rishi was supposed to stop the rout. He hasn’t. Now Tory MPs are starting to think only one man can.”
He said: “When Rishi Sunak entered No 10, many felt the adults were back in the room. Politics was returning to normal. Drama was a word they thought consigned to the past. At least Sunak had a plan, they thought. But now they are doubting the existence of any such plan, let alone a vision. They see a PM embattled by dealing with a series of scandals and an economy that remains sluggish. Those who thought that things could be turned around by the autumn of next year are doubting their own confidence. They have been knocked sideways by the decision by AstraZeneca to locate their new factory in Ireland, as a direct result of the imminent rise in corporation tax this side of the Irish sea. And they fear AstraZeneca won’t be the last.”
Dale added: “They also see a PM with a touch of Gordon Brown about him – a micro-manager who inevitably keeps having to defer decisions. Secretaries of state are said to feel like junior ministers, unable to take any decision without reference to No 10 first.”
Andrew Marr, who now freelances having once presented a BBC flagship political programme on Sunday, wrote a piece – “Rishi Sunak isn’t working” – for the left wing New Statesman, which has been reproduced in the Daily Telegraph which agrees with his sentiments.
The Sunday Telegraph ran a 4,000-word “essay” by Truss in which she justified the policies which led to economic disaster.
Liam Halligan, economics and business editor on GB News, which was set up to give a right-wing “alternative” to the BBC, offered his views in the Daily Telegraph: “Sunak’s tax blunders prove it – Liz Truss was right all along. For all the mudslinging, the former PM has moved the needle on the tax debate.”
Labour’s lead over the Tories in the opinion polls is now nearly 30 per cent which should see Keir Starmer replace Rishi as prime minister at the next election. In the latest parliamentary by-election in West Lanarkshire, Labour’s share of the vote was 62 per cent, up from 52 per cent at the general election in 2019.
The Daily Telegraph has interviewed half the 18 Tory MPs who are standing down at the next election.
Mark Pawsey, the outgoing MP for Rugby, admitted it would be “difficult” for his party to win a record fifth general election, while Crispin Blunt, who has represented Reigate for 26 years, said: “I don’t think it’s likely that we’ll win.”
Another backbencher stepping down argued Mr Sunak “has a chance of winning, but is it going to be easy? Bloody hell, no, I’ve not seen anything like this.”
However, voters are notoriously fickle. The chances are that by the time the election comes around, the gap between the Tories and Labour will narrow, especially if the economy improves. A hung parliament cannot be ruled out. Most Indian origin voters are likely to stick with Rishi and influence the result in something like 20 constituencies. But the Pakistanis will go with Labour.
