London, 24 Oct (Xinhua) -- The British prime minister's "horse lantern" change has exposed the shortcomings of the system
Xinhua News Agency reporter Du Juan Xu Feng
"My son has seen four chancellors, three home secretaries, two prime ministers... He was only 4 months old. British Prime Minister Truss, who has been in office for just over a month, recently announced his resignation as prime minister and head of the ruling Conservative Party, triggering the emotion of Alan McGuinness, editor of the British Sky News channel, on social media. The British media recently also used the headline "Prime Minister's Office's Chief Mousetrap' Larry Cat Farewell to His Fourth Prime Minister", satirizing the change of the Conservative Prime Minister as a "horse lantern".
The picture shows a profile photo of Truss taken in London, England, on September 6. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ying
Analysts believe that the political turmoil in the UK has exposed the divisions and chaos within the ruling Conservative Party, and also exposed the failure of the government to govern the country and society. This has also made the British people increasingly disillusioned with their own democratic system.
"This is not what government should be"
The Conservative Party has been in power for more than a decade, but recently the British media has repeatedly used "implosion" to describe the current status of this old party. In early July, then-Prime Minister Johnson resigned after a large number of cabinet officials resigned and the government was unsustainable. Since then, during the election for the leadership of the party, which lasted about two months, the internal divisions within the Conservative Party have been repeatedly exposed. After Truss took office, his aggressive fiscal policy caused violent turmoil in the financial market, attracting widespread criticism from British society and once again triggering an "earthquake" in the Conservative Party.
Ian Berger, a professor at the Institute of European Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science, pointed out that a series of events in the past few months have exposed the huge divisions within the Conservative Party, changing prime ministers, changing ministers, making decisions and quickly withdrawing them... British politics is playing a farce, "this is not what government should be".
At present, the British are struggling with high inflation, a deteriorating economy and political instability. From April to July this year, the level of inflation in the UK hit a record high in 40 years. Data released by the Office for National Statistics on October 19 showed that the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 10.1% year-on-year in September. Recently, the pound fell to 1.13 against the dollar, the lowest level since 1985. Morgan Stanley and other institutions predict that by the end of this year, the pound will fall below 1 to 1 against the dollar.
On October 22, a woman buys fruits and vegetables at Portobello Market in London, England. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ying
The Spanish "Le Monde" website recently pointed out that the British Conservative Party handed over power to inexperienced people, and the British government only had a series of simple anti-European slogans without a solid political foundation, which made the country in trouble, the economy into chaos, and diplomatically gradually isolated.
"This is a disappointment with democracy"
At present, the British Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party have called for an immediate general election. Starmer, the leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said Britain was not a "private fiefdom" of Conservatives and could not afford "another experiment at the top of the Conservative Party".
Stuart Wilkes-Higg, a professor of political science at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, pointed out that Truss had previously won the second stage of the Conservative Party leadership election, thus becoming the party leader and prime minister. But only more than 100,000 Conservative Party members voted, and the majority of voters had no right to decide on the choice of prime minister.
Just a day after Truss announced his resignation, a petition calling for early elections has garnered 800,000 signatures. "This is a disappointment with democracy." The British "Guardian" website commented.
By law, the Prime Minister has the power to hold early elections. But the British media believe that an early election is unlikely, as polls show that only 14% of people would vote for the Conservative Party if the current general election were held.
In recent years, the British political scene has been chaotic, politicians have been scandalized, and elections are only a new starting point for the recurrence of political farce. This exposes the deep-seated problems of the growing dysfunction of the British political system.
The British government's recent announcement of the country's largest tax cut in 50 years to boost the economy has caused a sharp shock in financial markets. A man walks past a currency exchange office in Manchester on October 7. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Jon Hueper)
A study released by the British Institute of Public Policy in the first half of this year pointed out that the Conservative government has further undermined people's trust in the British political system, especially young people's confidence in British democracy is falling sharply. A recent survey of young Britons aged 16 to 24 by pollster Ipsos found that only 17% of respondents were optimistic about the future of British politics.
The chaos in British politics is also triggering reflection in Western public opinion. Australia's Sydney Morning Herald said: "The last six weeks... is a textbook example of what happens when political ideologues are untied, stubborn, and hold the key to the highest echelons of power. CNN linked to America's own democratic dilemma: "The enduring strength of the American and British political systems has been its stability, orderly transfer of power... On both sides of the Atlantic, that foundation is now being questioned. ”