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dolorosa_12It's the eve of the UK general election. Three articles I've read in the past two days sum up the state of the nation, and the general mood:
An (incomplete) list of every terrible policy the Conservatives have inflicted on Britain since 2010
For a deep dive into the effects of one such set of policies on one sector:
How the Tories pushed universities to the brink of disaster
As I immigrated to the UK to take up postgraduate studies two years before the Tories took power, then spent the following fourteen years of their government either as an international postgraduate student, or as someone working for a university, I witnessed almost everything described in the article in real time. And yes, even at the (extremely prestigious, extremely internationally well-known) university where I studied and now work, things are as bad as described.
‘Here comes the sun’: Zadie Smith on hope, trepidation and rebirth after 14 years of the Tories
This one is so good, and I really struggled to find a suitable segment to excerpt, because I wanted to just quote every word, which are like fire, written with a flaming sword, the burning writing on the wall which condemns this contemptuous grasping, malicious, joke of a 'government' to the scrap heap which it so richly deserves.
I will head to the polling station tomorrow morning in the light of dawn, with a spring in my step and a sense of steel and clarity behind my eyes.
Tonight, hope sits like a fluttering bird in my heart, in my throat. I hope, I hope, I hope.
An (incomplete) list of every terrible policy the Conservatives have inflicted on Britain since 2010
For a deep dive into the effects of one such set of policies on one sector:
How the Tories pushed universities to the brink of disaster
As I immigrated to the UK to take up postgraduate studies two years before the Tories took power, then spent the following fourteen years of their government either as an international postgraduate student, or as someone working for a university, I witnessed almost everything described in the article in real time. And yes, even at the (extremely prestigious, extremely internationally well-known) university where I studied and now work, things are as bad as described.
‘Here comes the sun’: Zadie Smith on hope, trepidation and rebirth after 14 years of the Tories
This one is so good, and I really struggled to find a suitable segment to excerpt, because I wanted to just quote every word, which are like fire, written with a flaming sword, the burning writing on the wall which condemns this contemptuous grasping, malicious, joke of a 'government' to the scrap heap which it so richly deserves.
That’s the dark secret about this version of Conservatism: it doesn’t even work. That’s the joke of it all. What we have at this point is an unstable and dangerous mix of Thatcherite ideologues – determined to finish the job of dismantling a postwar social compact they despised from its inception – and shysters whose short-term thinking is so profound that they haven’t even the political will or energy to turn Britain into that fabled, deregulated paradise-for-some: “Singapore-on-Thames”. No, they’re too busy having lockdown parties or making secret millions off PPE contracts or betting on the date of the general election. They’re a whole new breed – and the good thing about that is their old defence tactics no longer work.
I’m afraid the papers aren’t going to swing it for you this time, guys. People have eyes. People have children. People pay rent. People go to the shops. People get sick. People go to work. The damage you have done is everywhere and in plain sight.
I will head to the polling station tomorrow morning in the light of dawn, with a spring in my step and a sense of steel and clarity behind my eyes.
Tonight, hope sits like a fluttering bird in my heart, in my throat. I hope, I hope, I hope.