The Art Of Politics: September – The Autumn Of Discontent?

by Richard Bruton

September brings… well, more bloody chaos, corruption, dodgy dealings, and a shortage of… well, everything really… but this is politics, so that’s just your average month really.

It’s been a busy old month here in Britain – and by busy, I mean your normal, everything goes to hell sort of thing…

There was Boris et al ‘fixing’ social care – by not really fixing social care and then slapping a National Insurance rise on the country. National Insurance, for those outside the UK, is a tax of sorts but a tax that is far more punitive on the poorer end of society than the rich – yes, we really are all in this together, aren’t we? Pah. And that’s not even to mention the effective cut to Universal Credit – again, hitting the very poorest in society the hardest.

Chris Riddell –

Ben Jennings –

While Boris was making sure old folks weren’t looked after, Priti Patel continued her mission to kill as many people as possible by bringing in impossible new rules that meant that the UK were, in theory, going to be sending back boats of asylum seekers – international law and basic human rights be damned.

Peter Brookes –

Steve Bell –

And in a not unrelated moment… AOC attended the Met Gala in her Tax The Rich gown… Ben Jennings imagined a version that Boris would be fitting into…

And then, around the halfway stage of the month, we started to get the dire warnings that, what do you know, shutting up shop to Europe was actually going to have implications in terms of deliveries, in terms of drivers, in terms of Christmas, in terms of basics… it’s mostly down to a lack of lorry drivers to deliver stuff, but some of it’s potentially down to the increased paperwork and red tape now that Britain, post-Brexit, has proudly taken its borders back.

Ben Jennings –

And then came the petrol crisis. Which most likely wasn’t a crisis. Or maybe it was. Or probably it was the people panicking. Or something.

Anyway, about two-thirds through the month, a couple of petrol stations reported they were out of fuel. Basically, it was all to do with the lack of drivers to get the petrol from the depots to the petrol stations. Hey, what do you know, it’s almost as if all those migrant workers, those immigrants that those Brexiteers wanted to kick out the country (and did) actually contributed to the country after all.

So. Cue panic buying and a petrol shortage across great swathes of the country…

Nicola Jennings on the signs appearing on the petrol pumps…

But hey, never mind any of that, one benefit of Brexit… we get to have Imperial measures back… because that really makes up for the chaos, the shortages, the changes in human rights, the general shittiness of the country…

Morten Morland…

Martin Rowson…

And then, just to add to the problems, the Energy suppliers in the UK started to go out of business… oh, it’s going to a real winter of discontent…

Brian Adcock –

Seamus Jennings –

All of which led to No.10 and the Prime Minister’s office warning that hundreds of thousands of people faced a ‘very, very difficult’ winter thanks to rising household costs, Covid, supply chain issues, and the cut to Universal Credit – yep. Again, the poor pay the price. And yes, Merry Bloody Christmas one and all…

Ben Jennings –

Chris Riddell –

Meanwhile… in Royal news… Andrew got served with papers. Or he didn’t. And then probably did. But no matter, he’s stuck up there in the nightmare world that is the 50,000 acres of Balmoral, waited on hand and bloody foot.

Morten Morland –

Anyway…