And then there is the US, God’s own debtor. It could once at least count on the Democrats to show some token interest in fiscal rigour. Now both parties have a tacit agreement to ignore the debt — call it the Washington Consensus — even at risk to dollar supremacy. Elon Musk, having failed to change the federal government, must lower his ambitions to things like terraforming Mars.
So, debt is a pan-western problem, and a developing world one too. Why fear for Britain in particular? One reason is Sir Keir Starmer’s character. He waited for voters to dispose of Jeremy Corbyn before deciding the old socialist was unfit for office. He waited for a court ruling to clarify his position on what a woman is, which even then he did through a spokesperson. The estate of John F Kennedy will never have to update Profiles in Courage for this man. Controlling spending often comes down to one’s sheer capacity to absorb hatred. Starmer would only be human if he didn’t have it. There is a neediness at the centre of most public figures. It might not be coincidence that David Cameron, who cut spending, though to an overrated extent, is the one top-rank politician in my time who had no apparent insecurity. Public protests bounced off that unhaunted man.
I nurse a theory that low-charisma politicians are the biggest financial liabilities. Unable to win the affection of the public on their own terms, they go on expensive crusades to announce their goodness. When she had become a national joke, May signed up to net zero targets as part of her Please Like Me farewell tour. See also Gordon Brown in his Treasury years. Starmer and chancellor Rachel Reeves have that potential. A government tends to be strongest at the start. If this pair can’t hold the line now, imagine the dog days of 2027. If you believe that Labour is going to press on with welfare reform when backbenchers start the moral blackmail, I have some gilts to sell you.
e = get, head
Dive into said