The Cumbria Crack Towers servants are away for the weekend. Fortunately, I know where they hide the key for the Dreamies cupboard and I haven’t, for once, left muddy paw prints in the shag pile.
But they aren’t the only ones that are absent.
We are in the middle of a crisis. Many people are genuinely worried about their rising energy bills, some have to think about kids and back to school wear and some simply aren’t sure they can eat.
So where is the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer? Boris Johnson, once he tendered his resignation, appears to have gone on a prolonged holiday and the only thing he has organised is a wedding celebration – I wonder who paid for that? He did meet with some energy business leaders late in the week and then decided it was all too much and kicked it into the long grass for his successor to pick up.
And as for the Chancellor, he has made such an impact since he was appointed 24 hours before he led a delegation to No.10 to tell Boris to go, (Et tu Brute?), I cannot even remember his name.
We are in the midst of a national crisis where things are getting worse by the day, yet our political leaders have gone walkabout. Leadership? I don’t think so.
And while our MPs enjoy there summer away from Westminster, there is no one taking the leadership to task on either side of the house.
The leader of the opposition and his shadow cabinet might be in the news having a pop at the Tory leadership contenders but are they doing the same to the current office holders?
Sir Kier Starmer, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, seems to have left the plug out and the water has drained. Probably too busy getting freebie tickets for Arsenal football matches.
And with Parliament not sitting we are spared the political kickabout that is the leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party in the House of Commons or the leader of the Liberal Democrats and his once-a-week question during PMQs.
Outside of the Westminster village, the nation’s spiritual leader, Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a man who went AWOL during the COVID crisis for three months of reflection, prayer and spiritual renewal, is now involved in a spat with Sandi Toksvig – will we see him on QI anytime soon?
Just looked up the name of the Chancellor and it’s Nadhim Zahawi. Isn’t he the one who claimed parliamentary expenses for electricity for the riding stables he owns?
As MP for Stratford-upon-Avon, perhaps he is asking himself the question to be or not to be?. Well on current evidence it is ‘not to be’ but maybe he is just keeping his head down hoping all’s well that ends well which, by happy coincidence, begins a run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre next week (The Cat has tickets for early September!).
It is clear every one of us will face challenges in the weeks and months ahead and at such times we look to our leaders for, well, leadership, and at the moment we are waiting in vain.
About Cumbria Cat
Born in Cumberland and, from 2023, will be back living in Cumberland, having spent most of the past 50 years in some place called Cumbria, this cat has used up all nine lives as well as a few others.
Always happy to curl up on a friendly lap, the preference is for a local lap and not a lap that wants to descend on the county to change it into something it isn’t. After all, you might think Cumbria/Cumberland/Westmorland is a land forged by nature – the glaciers, the rivers, breaking down the volcanic rocks or the sedimentary layers – but, in reality, the Cumbria we know today was forged by generations of local people, farmers, miners, quarriers, and foresters.
This cat is a local moggy, not a Burmese, Ocicat or Persian, and although I have been around the block a few times, whenever I jump, I end up on my feet back in my home county. I am passionate about the area, its people, past, present and future, and those who come to admire what we hold dear, be it lakes and mountains, wild sea shores, vibrant communities or the history as rich and diverse as anywhere in the world.
