NEWS 5
22 February 2020 THE WEEK
...and how they were covered
Whatnext?
“It’squiteafeatforJohnsontohavemadeamartyrofthemild-manneredSajidJavid,”said
CamillaCavendishintheFT.Still,this“land-grab”madesense.Givenhowharditwillbe
toextractBritainfromtheEU,it’sessentialthattheGovernment’skeyfiguresareworkingin
concert.SunakismuchmorecloselyalignedwiththePM’sviewsthanJavidis,saidKatyBalls
intheInewspaper.Forthatreason,hewasalreadyNo.10’spreferredpointofcontactwith
theTreasury.HewasanearlyBrexiter,andsupportstheplanstoendcheaplabourthrough
anewpoints-basedimmigrationsystem–“somethingJavidwasprivatelyworriedabout”.
SunakisamorenaturalfitwithNo.10,saidStephenDaisleyinTheSpectator,butthe39-
year-oldishardlygoingtoenjoya“relationshipofequals”withJohnsonandCummings.By
installinghimandanewpooledteamofadvisers,thePMhaseffectivelyannexedtheTreasury.
ThiswillmakelifeeasierforJohnson,butit’slikelytohaveanegativeimpactonthequalityof
governance,which“thrivesongiveandtake”andacertaincreativetensionbetweenNo. 10
andNo.11.OtherPMsconsideredtamingtheTreasuryinthiswaybutstoppedshortofdoing
so,realisingthat“thedividebetweenpoliticalwillandeconomicrealitieswasaload-bearing
wall”whichcouldn’tberemovedwithoutcausing“somelonger-termstructuralmischief”.
ItwasdifficulttoseethesenseinanyofJohnson’sreshuffle,saidJanetStreet-PorterinThe
Independent.Hard-earnedexperienceandskillseemedtocountfornothingcomparedto
“loyaltyandanon-questioningmindset”.WegotyetanotherHousingMinister–thetenth
inadecade–whileJulianSmith,who“wonthetrustofallpartiesinNorthernIreland”,
wasunceremoniouslydumped.ThenewsfootageofthePMleadinghisnewCabinetina
pantomimecall-and-responseexercise–“Howmanyhospitalsarewegoingtobuild?”
“Forty!”–onlymadehisteamlookevenmorelikeabunchofobsequiousmediocrities,said
Marina Hydein The Guardian.If youthoughtJeremyHunt andPhilip Hammondwere
uninspiring,waituntil yousee Alok Sharmaand Suella Braverman. Believe it ornot,Liz
Truss is nowthe longest-serving Cabinetminister.“It’s not exactlyTeam ofRivals,is it?”
What the commentators said
Sunakthisweekdispelled
speculationabouta
possibledelaytotheBudget,
confirmingthattheevent
wouldgoaheadasplanned
on 11 March.Heis
understoodtobeconsidering
acutinhigher-ratetaxrelief
onpensioncontributions–
amovethatwouldraise
£10bnayear.TheCityispredictinga
giveawayBudget,butit
remainstobeseenwhether
theChancellordiverges
fromthestrictfiscalrules
announcedbyhispredecessor
lastyear.Underthoserules,
thedeficitonday-to-day
spendingmustbeclearedby
202 3;publicsectornet
investmentiscappedat3%
ofGDP;andspendingplans
mustbereviewed ifdebt
interest paymentsreach 6%
ofrevenue.Whatnext?
The “human calamity” is clear–homesand livelihoods areruined, said Oliver Duff in the I
newspaper.But it’s no surprise;cash-strappedcouncils havebeen building onunsuitable land
for years. Between2001 and 2014 alone, 250,000 newhomes (12%ofour new housing stock)
werebuilt in areassusceptible to flooding, leaving residents“at the mercy of Britain’s famously
grim winterweather”. The floods are “not acts of God”, said Simon Jenkins inTheGuardian.
They are “acts ofgovernment, preventable by upland river managementand lo wland common
sense”. After Cockermouth in Cumbria floodedin2009, the National Trust slowed run-off
from hillsdespite opposition fromfarmers,who prefer landtobewell drained forgrazing;the
disaster hasn’t been repeated. The Government, though,prefers headline-grabbing
ploys like the £1.2bn Met Office “supercomputer”announced this week.
Storms are “toxic” for ministers, said Jamie Blackett in The Daily Telegraph; David
Camerononce said that he sacked his environment secretary, Owen Paterson,
becausehe“had abad flood”. So for the incumbent, George Eustice, tosayhe’s
“happy”with our defenceswas “shockingly insensitive”. Officials blame climate
change, said Ross Clark in the DailyMail; butit’s no excuse. The real problem is
paltry spendingonflood defences; lastyear’s £815m wasatenth of thesubsidies
handed outfor renewableenergy sources.It’s time defenceswere made “top
priority”.Climate change is certainly making storms moreextreme,said Emma
Gatten in The Daily Telegraph; and worseistocome. Some 5.2millionhomesin
England areatr iskofflooding–anumber that willdouble if warming continues
at current rates.The scaleoft he problemis clear–and Britainisn’t prepared.
What thecommentatorssaid
The Governmentunlocked
emergency funding for
victims; flood-hit
households andbusinesses
can apply for grantsto
makethemmore resilient
infuture,andtax breaks to
ease the immediate burden.The Government
hadpromised
£2.6bnfor flood
defence schemes
in England in the
six yearsupto
2021, to“better
protect”300,
homes. Atotalof
£4bn hasbeen
pledged forflood
defences between
now and 2026.The bursar of St John’s College, Oxford, causedastirlast month.
In response to students demanding he acknowledge the climate
emergency by divesting the college of its oil shares, Andrew Parker
said he couldn’t do that right now–but he could, if they liked, turn off their gas central heating. Was
he being flippant?Abit. The divestment movement isn’t calling for an immediate end to the use of
fossil fuels, but trying to put pressure on the industry to invest more in renewables. Nor was he fair
in suggesting the young are unwilling to make personal sacrifices for the climate cause: forastart,
9% of 16-to2 4-year-olds have turned vegan. But he is right in one respect: while railing against their
forebears for creating this crisis, the young are still reaping the benefits of the unsustainable system.
In particular, they are addicted to travel: millennials take more foreign holidays than any other age
group, and GenZare likel ytof ollo wsuit. Then there are the harmful new trends they’ve embraced
with gusto, from Deliveroo (with its ocean of single-use plastic) and throwaway fashion to video and
TV streaming (which accounts foraremarkable 1% of CO 2 emissions). According toanew survey,
16- to 34-year-olds are in fact less likely to recycle their waste than over-55s, and less likely to avoid
out-of-season vegetables too. Still, they’ve reason to feel aggrieved. No generation has it all, but at
least the baby boomers were invited to seize the good stuff that came their way: their grandchildren,
by contrast, are meant to resist the plenty that is on offer to them.THEWEEK
Caroline Law
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“I’m just going to plug
in our new electric car”