Opinion: Are the cracks beginning to show?

Classical Liberal Justice and Home Affairs Spokesman and former Lord Chancellor, Lord Grantham, writes for the Guardian.

Lord Grantham asks whether cracks are beginning to appear in the government.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The Guardian.

When a government is a minority, it can be rather easy to unseat them and install a new government. However, we are faced with a government that holds a majority in the House of Commons and the House of Lords is all but powerless to hold them to account. This week, the introduction of controversial legislation has led to some unfortunate events for the Prime Minister and his cabinet. So, this begs the question: are the cracks beginning to show and what happens when a government is too unfit to govern?

In a term that has marked a return to prisoner disenfranchisement and the rise of the voting age, the government seemed almost unbreakable. However, with the introduction of the NHS Charges (Repeal) Bill as well as the controversial Freedom of Expression Bill, the government has fallen on harder times. The Prime Minister, instead of taking charge when the odds seem against him, has opted to hide under a rock and bury his head in the sand. Are these qualities of a good leader? The leader that the United Kingdom needs? No, certainly not. It is laziness of the highest order.

We also have a Deputy Prime Minister who, rather than take part in reasoned debate in the Commons, favours to throw temper tantrums and throw accusations of dishonesty towards other members of the House which led him to be called to order multiple times by the Speakership. Finally, we have the Secretaries of State who seem utterly disinterested in the proper governance of the United Kingdom with one of their number believing that those who advocate for genocide should be permitted to do so without being hounded by the law. This is a government unfit to govern “led” by a Prime Minister who is too scared to lead. The cracks have begun to show.

Our constitutional setup requires that the person whom can command the confidence of the House of Commons shall be appointed to the prestigious office of Prime Minister by Her Majesty The Queen. In this case, the Prime Minister holds fifty one seats out of one hundred which means he has a majority of one. Despite the fact that a vote of no confidence is likely to be accepted, this means that one would unlikely pass even if it were. The Conservative and Libertarian whips are notoriously reliable and almost always have near perfect turnout. However, you would be wrong to assume that this signals a healthy government. This is all the government truly has going for them right now. Despite this, it seems unlikely the Official Opposition, or even the Unofficial Opposition will be unable to unseat this deluded government.

The only hope for an immediate return to civility is if the Conservatives realise their mistake in aligning themselves with, what the now resigned Libertarian Party President coined, an alt-right party and collapse the government and either seek an alternative coalition partner or attempt a thirty-six seat minority government. Is this likely to happen, however? I doubt it. I fear we may be stuck with this “Blurple” government for many terms to come. This Prime Minister will continue to bury his head in the sand and a man akin to a six year old will continue to bring his cabinet into further disrepute.

Written by Lord Grantham for the Guardian.

