This Week I Feel Different

Inevitably I feel different this week about last week’s election results. There’s all sorts of political punditry breaking it down and telling us all why it’s good for Labour or shit for Labour or well done to this party or completely ignoring the fact that the Greens did well. I don’t know. You can look at it from all different sides and decide upon what was good for you. For me, Labour have a resounding victory and now they need to use it, because if they don’t, it will be a waste. O and watching the video of Liz Truss not comprehend the fact that she lost her seat was delicious. I’ve never known a person with less awareness of themselves and the world around them. She is truly a bizarre human being.

My awesome Mum gave me some advice over the weekend based on my incessant need to know about what’s going on in politics. Essentially she said, don’t worry about it because unless you’re a politician you have no impact on what’s happening so just get on with your life. I’m not sure that’s entirely true because a fuck load of people voted on Thursday last week and politics has definitely changed, but I get what she means on a day to day basis. The problem I have is that I’ve been doing this since 2016 and it’s going to be bloody difficult to stop. I suppose I’ll have to slowly wean myself off politics, as long as I believe it’s going in a positive direction.

Last week I was tired. I’m perpetually tired, but my brain was tired. The build up to this moment of change was years in the making and I was just shrugging, yawning and getting on with my day. Now I’m fucking livid. I’ve been really angry this week. And here’s why:

For years the Conservatives have not been governing, they’ve been campaigning. They think that a press release announcing some policy or change means that it will happen and they’re happy to get the headlines the next day in their favourite arse licking right wing newspaper. And they think the job is done. Doesn’t matter if the change happens or not, we’ve won the media round for the next twenty four hours. And nothing got better because they never actually did anything.

And I look at our new government and the decisions they’re making and it makes me fucking angry. Because instead of campaigning, they’re actually fucking governing. MPs are now ministers of state in fields they have actual experience in. No longer are MPs getting the top jobs because they’re just simply loyal or because they’re a mate, but because they understand their brief and have experience of education, foreign relations, the economy etc. Grown ups doing grown up shit.

And they’ve gone ahead and changed things already. They’ve made decisions about onshore wind, which we can now do. Our Health Secretary has actually sat down with Doctors and strikes have been called off. Decisions about overcrowding prisons have been made. Reviews have been called for. Our prime minister has actually realised that this nation is made up of four countries and has gone to those countries and met those leaders. All the mayors of the regions have met with the prime minister, including the Tory mayors (I think there’s only one now.) Before the PM was only meeting with Tory mayors. Why?

I’m so fucking livid at how easy politics now looks. How simple it is for those in power to actually do something. Anything! Make the changes you want. For years we’ve just had division and grievance and now we have a government that wants to govern and get the fuck on with it. And it makes me angry that we’ve had charlatans wasting our time for years.