‘HAVE your say on the future of the UK in 60 seconds,’ said Sir Sajid Javid, a former Tory Home Secretary. ‘Britain is in peril.’
It certainly is. I had great hopes. Are they really asking us what they should do?
Alas no, of course not. He was announcing the National Conversation Project which ‘aims to understand [the] sense of belonging and perceptions of unity and division in the United Kingdom.’
Nothing to do with the feeble economy, the failing NHS, the small boats and all the rest. And it certainly takes a lot more than 60 seconds, because I tried it.
Our Government does actually ask us what we’re worried about (never me, mind, nor anyone I know). Its survey in April found that ‘the most commonly reported important issues . . . were the cost of living (90 per cent), the NHS (80 per cent), and the economy (74 per cent). After those came international conflict (63 per cent), crime (58 per cent), immigration (56 per cent), housing (54 per cent), and climate change and the environment (54 per cent).
You can’t really split the economy away from the rising cost of living. A recent government Research Briefing showed ‘how the high period of inflation in the UK from 2021 to 2024 continues to affect household incomes, spending, poverty, savings and debt’. Then you do wonder why immigration was so far down the list. There must be other surveys showing what we’re worried about, surely?
Of course there are. One of the most informative is YouGov. They’ve been conducting very frequent and regular surveys of public opinion for some time. For instance in May 2011 the economy was top of the list (no surprise), followed by immigration (15 years ago, why didn’t we do something?), and third was health (the NHS). This was the time of the Tory-Lib Dem coalition. David Cameron, in his acceptance speech (May 2010), said: ‘The service our country needs right now is to face up to our really big challenges, to confront our problems, to take difficult decisions.’
Three years later (still under Cameron) YouGov found that, in spite of those brave words, we were still most worried about the economy, this time equal with immigration, then health. No change so far. The Cameronian ‘difficult decisions’ were proving too difficult.
The year 2017 was different. Theresa May was different. Our main worry was different: leaving the EU, then health followed by immigration. She boasted that ‘we will forge a bold new positive role for ourselves in the world, and we will make Britain a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us’. But the country didn’t seem to work for anybody.
By May 2020, now with Boris Johnson at Number 10 and the country under a lockdown, health was our first concern, then the economy and third was leaving the EU. Immigration tied with welfare in fourth place. ‘My job,’ Johnson said, ‘is to make your streets safer . . . to make sure you don’t have to wait three weeks to see your GP . . . we will fix the crisis in social care once and for all with a clear plan.’ They all talk like this when they arrive in Downing Street.
In May 2023 YouGov found the same worries: the economy first, followed by health then immigration. Rishi Sunak was in charge, promising ‘a stronger NHS, better schools, safer streets . . . an economy that embraces the opportunities of Brexit, where businesses invest, innovate, and create jobs’. Why do they all think they can work miracles?
We’re all worried about the economy and our cost of living. We’ve all been worried about the economy for years and years. So lots of voters went for change, for Sir Keir Starmer, who said in July 2024 that he would rebuild Britain, put the NHS back on its feet, secure our borders, cut energy bills for good, provide affordable homes and world-class schools and colleges.
Well, we thought, that would do for a start. It didn’t happen, of course, and in May this year the economy was still the first of our worries, followed by immigration then health.
Not one of those six prime ministers has managed to do anything about any of our three worst fears: the devastating economic decisions which are causing the ever-rising cost of living, unmanageable and excessive immigration, and the increasingly rickety NHS.
Are you all feeling helpless? Are you ready for the winner of the Labour boasting and squabble-fest who will spout yet another Downing Street acceptance speech promising miracles?
Whoever it is they’ll go on about inequality, Britain’s need for change, and end with a firm guarantee to help hard-working people.
Can they mean the hard-working people who have persistently, in every YouGov and other survey for at least 15 years, clamoured for something to be done about the economy, immigration and the NHS?
