If Rishi Sunak cared about his parliamentary career, he could not have picked a worse time for a General Election. The main opposition party, Labour, is hardly united. Its former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is standing as an independent. Its activists are in open rebellion against the party's failure to condemn Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Then on every issue that really matters to ordinary working people, such as affordable housing, job security and unsustainable migratory flows, NewNew Labour have only promised more of the same, albeit dressed up in empty Obama-style rhetoric about change and green new deals. The current Tory chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, could have written Labour's manifesto.
Yet just one week into the campaign, Rishi announces an epic vote loser, the introduction of National Service for 18 year olds, with a choice of military or community service. Unsurprisingly, community service means helping to deliver prescriptions. Great, young adults will have a choice of serving the Military Industrial Complex in proxy wars with Russia and/or China, or serving the Biotech Industrial Complex by handing out happy pills and, probably, helping with the next jabbathon. The pundits claim Rishi was trying to appeal to patriotic Reform voters, who tend to respect the armed forces, but the most fervant supporters of war with Russia call themselves liberal progressives.
I suspect when Sir Keir enters 10 Downing Street, as the polls would suggest he will with the full blessing of big business and the BBC, on 5th July, he will wait a few weeks to announce the outcome of some Royal Commission on youth employment and roll out Rishi's plan just before admitting we are indeed at war with the Great Eastern Bear. Will there be some false flag event ascribed to Russia in a NATO country that will draw what's left of the UK armed forces into a hot war?
Meanwhile artificial intelligence and outsourcing have hit the once affluent middle classes, at least judging by the IT contract market.
Why do so many seemingly intelligent young professionals still believe the mainstream parties offer any choice? Labour's only selling point is that they're not Tories. I think they're all working for the same team. We saw that over the covid scam. Stage-managed general elections are a great way to bury unpopular decisions such as agreeing to the WHO's controversial Pandemic Treaty. While Rishi and Keir tour the British Isles in front of TV cameras, the Civil Service carry on the business of actually running the country.