The Passport Office is in disarray. Immigration is in disarray. All this under the direction of Ms Priti Patel. She has got to be one of the most incompetent ministers ever to have the job Of Home Secretary. That is of course not surprising, given the quality of the Prime Minister who appointed her. Her’s is not a shining political career, yet somehow she remains in office despite a, now apparent, colossal level of incompetence.
Her interview with Mark Easton on the BBC showed off the disconnect she has with her office. She claimed to be frustrated by the Ukrainian applications for visas scheme as well as stating that the reason the UK appears to be taken on fewer refugees is because the UK is no longer part of the EU. What? How is that an excuse? Is she suggesting that if the UK were part of the EU then more war refugees would be allowed to enter the UK?
Here is just a few seconds of that interview and her confused response to questions:
There is a piece in the Guardian at:
which describes the staggering level of chaos at the Passport Office which is costing applicants considerable loss due to the inability to process applications for passport with anything close to efficiency. Despite the exorbitant fees for fast track applications, they are equally at risk, and what was once a matter of a day has gone into weeks. Such is the disintegration of the Home Office under her leadership.
Why, why is she still there? Is
it possibly because Boris Johnson needs anybody he can get on his side, to
support his own incompetence and perfidy? Or is it a matter of allowing the
attention to focus on other matters in order to distract attention from his own
lawlessness? I suspect it’s a bit of both. In the meantime the country tumbles
into insignificance, which is not necessarily a bad thing; however, if unchecked, it could lead to a very bad end. With a perceived loss and failure of national
identity the wrong people come out of the woodwork to revitalise nationalism
and pride in country. To wit, Hitler’s National Socialism rise to power, Donald
Trump’s “Make America Great Again”, Viktor Orbán in
Hungary playing on national fears. There is also the concern of Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour in
France. The current and most dangerous example is, of course, Vladimir Putin in
Russia. The people who would restore super patriotism as a cure for all your
problems. So who
might be the next pretender for Oswald Mosley?
There is an informative piece written by Gideon Rachman in the Sat 9 April, Guardian entitled: Understanding Vladimir Putin, the man who fooled the world – with a sub heading: The Russian President has always shown us exactly who he is. So why did it take the invasion of Ukraine for us to believe him? (Link below)
Substitute the name of any dictator or would be Caesar, and you might find the same rhetoric, prompted by economic failings, flagging of political influence, territorial changes and historical demands for reparations giving rise to a new leadership who will restore your income and prosperity as well as your homeland’s ancient borders, build up your armies and regain your power and influence in the world. There is always some sort of “Sudetenland” problem to resolve, e.g. the Donbas in South-Eastern Ukraine.
The repetitive nature of dictatorships and how they come into being is sadly an unending saga. The deaths and destruction that inevitably follow to right the wrong is lamented over and over with cries of never again, but it keeps on happening. Mr Rachman’s analysis can be, and has been, written many times over, only the dates and names are different.
On the lighter side, but again applicable to many a nation, my old French school friend Charles sent me the following cartoon:
The question is addressed to Macron:
“And if you are not re-elected?”
“I’ll open up a consultancy firm.
There’s a lot of crazy money to be made out of incompetent governments”
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