Why the current state of politics is bad for Britain

Politics is stranger than ever in Britain, and indeed the Western World, at the moment. The current
total dominance of the Conservative Party could not have been foreseen in 2015, when the election
seemed on a knife edge. Despite hugely divisive issues such as Brexit, economic difficulties, and
the sorry state of the NHS, the current government enjoys ridiculously large opinion poll leads,
among the largest ever held by a party in power. There seems no realistic prospect of anything but a
decisive, probably crushing Tory victory in the next election, whenever it does come. This,
understandably, must lend a great sense of comfort to the Tory leadership. The fact that they do
indeed feel so comfortable is evidenced by their current policies. The aforementioned NHS issue is
reaching the level of a crisis- and the reality is that it will only get worsen as funding cuts continue
to bite ever harder. In the same breath as it brutally cuts the NHS, the government continues to slash
funding for the poorest and neediest schools, whilst, incredulously, increasing funding for grammar
and free schools. To add to all this are national insurance rises, increases in taxes for the self-
employed, and of course, a continued attack on disability benefits. The reality is now that the
current Tory government has begun to threaten even its own traditional voters, sections of society
whom Thatcher would have termed our people. Wages will not increase in real terms until 2022. I
would argue that these policies represent the true, dark nature of the Conservative party.

When in trouble, when threatened by a strong and popular Labour Party, the Tories are far
more cautious and careful in how they act, how they present themselves to the public, and what
policies they pursue. Whatever happened to the Big Society? What about hug a hoodie? Or go
Green, vote Blue? Such notions have been long forgotten, now that there is no longer a credible
threat to Tory dominance. Instead, their true philosophy emerges; take from the poor and give to the
rich. Of course, this is bad for almost the whole of Britain. It seems as though the government is far
from popular, despite their truly staggering opinion poll leads. Instead, like a good football team,
they have learned that simply being better than your opposition is enough to ensure success. Most
of the country are not loyal Tories, they will look with disdain upon most of these policies. They
will, however, continue to vote Tory as long as the Labour party does not represent a credible
alternative. The current state of the Labour party cannot be solely blamed upon Corbyn and his
leadership team. Ed Miliband also struggled to properly sell a progressive left-wing, pro-europe
agenda to the British people. Like Corbyn, Miliband and Gordon Brown, failed to cope with a
mostly hostile, right-wing media and press, and failed to overwhelmingly convince the British
public that they were leaders who could be trusted to make the most difficult decisions. This
remains the problem in the present day, most voters seemingly choose Thersa May's perceived
ruthless efficiency over anything the Labour Party can currently offer. The reality is that to change
this the Labour party must find a leader who can be seen as respectable, as capable, as wiling to
stand up for Britain and to take tough decisions. A future Labour leader must be able to tackle the
Conservatives rhetoric head-on, outlining a proper and detailed progressive agenda for the nation.
And, crucially, a future Labour leader must work more efficiently with the media and the press,
even its most right-wing sections, in order to break through to a wider audience. The British
electorate can often be remarkable fickle, if such a leader were to emerge, it would not be
unreasonable to predict that the Tory government, despite its current huge opinion poll leads, to
soon be in major trouble.