Uphill Task Awaits Liz Truss

 Yuba Nath Lamsal

The 2002 census report of England and Wales came as a shock to many British people as it indicated that if the same trend continued white Britons would soon be in minority in their own capital city. The 2012 census further stunned them as only 44.9 per cent residents in London identified themselves as white British. These two events agitated the right-winger British politicians to take up the nationalist bandwagon blaming the liberal immigration policy. The far rightist hardliners in the Conservative Party took it an opportune time to hit the liberals in both sides of aisles of British parliament and come into the leadership spotlight. 

The liberal immigration policy was linked with UK’s association with the European Union and the hardliners often called it as British government’s policy capitulation to the European Union. They unleashed a crusade demanding tight immigration policy and exit from the European Union finally forcing the British government to hold referendum on the EU. In what is popularly known as the Brexit referendum 2016, British people chose to break UK’s five decade long collective engagement with Europe since the creation of European Economic Community. Hard conservatives cheered calling it a victory of British people to make their independent decision. 

Polarisation 

Liz Truss was one of the Eurosceptic conservatives in the United Kingdom, who said ‘after Brexit, we will be free to determine our economic future, with control over our money, laws and borders’. Now Truss has come to the mantle of power in the 10 Downing Street and is in position to practice what she preached. The Brexit issue sharply polarized the British politics and deepened fractures and fissures in the British society. After David Cameron resigned in the aftermath of Brexit referendum result, no prime minister has completed his/her full tenure. Britain has seen four prime ministers over the last six years since 2016. David Cameron wanted to remain in the EU in 2016 stating that ‘Britain was stronger, safer and better off inside the EU’. 

But popular verdict came against what he advocated and Cameron resigned stating that he did not want to remain a ‘captain of the sinking ship’ paving the way for the Brexiters to be in the helms of affairs. Theresa May rose to power as a successor of David Cameron but served only for three years and had to quit in 2019 over her failure to negotiate an amicable way to leave the EU, clearing the way for another Brexiter Boris Johnson to take up Tory party’s leadership and premiership of the United Kingdom. Johnson’s premiership, too, didn’t last long as he remained barely 38 months in power and had to resign over a scandal. 

Now the 47 year Truss is the new leader of the British Conservative party and prime minister of the United Kingdom. Just two days after she took up the straight jacket of premiership, British Queen Elizabeth passed away and King Charles III has ascended to the throne of British monarchy. The United Kingdom has now both new head of the state and the head of the government. As a Eurosceptic conservative, Truss is called a Thatcherite hardliner and often compared with Margaret Thatcher.  But her background does not confirm with this image. 

Thatcher was avowed conservative and proved it in action during her 11 years of premiership, due to which she was called an ‘iron lady’. Truss is not Margaret Thatcher. She is liberal left turned conservative right. She rose to power on the basis of anti-EU evangelism rather than rallying on her ideology and policy distinction. She is criticised as the one who lacks vision and clear priorities.  

She has assumed the office of prime minister of Britain at a time when the world is facing a tough time. The international security environment is reaching a tipping point. The Ukraine war has divided Europe. Once a principal empire and global leader, the United Kingdom now appears to have outsourced its foreign policy to the United States in the name of special relationship as London often looks at the world through Washington’s lens. 

The United Kingdom is facing worst crisis as people’s cost of living is ratcheting up, while income is declining. Inflation is soaring high and inequality is widening while Ukraine war has sent a multiple ripples to economic and security fronts of all European countries. Health system is broken. While the war has fuelled inflation, the energy crisis is deepening in entire Europe with Moscow drastically reducing gas supply to Western Europe. Europe heavily depends on Russian gas and if Russia stops gas supply, the upcoming winter will be harsher in Europe.

Multiple challenges

The Eurosceptic conservative leaders said British economy would be better after breaking relations with the European Union. But it didn’t happen so instead problems and crises have further worsened. Moreover, even after the Brexit, some pressing issues are still to be resolved with the European Union. The Brexiters promised the people so many things which are now not possible to realise. Given the gulf between the promises and ground reality, it will be an uphill task for Liz Truss to set things right and maintain the confidence of the British people. Now British people are slowly realising that Brexit was a mistake and had Brexit not happened, the situation might not have gone as badly as it is now.  

The society and politics are so deeply divided that the primary task of the Truss government will be to bridge this divide created by the Brexit and immigration issue. Her tax cut promise, too, is not likely to see the light of the day because of the problematic British economy. Apart from the economy, the other key bone of contention is the immigration policy. It is yet to be seen how she handles this issue and repair the broken immigration policy. Thus, Liz Truss will have tough time to handle these multiple challenges facing the United Kingdom.

(The author is former ambassador and former chief editor of this daily. lamsalyubanath@gmail.com)

- published in The Rising Nepal on September 14, 2022

https://risingnepaldaily.com/news/16699