The Conservative party is a void

Like the winter of discontent, the summer of 2022 is a season that will burn itself into the national consciousness. Predictions of a dark (in all senses of the word) future are daily occurrences. All but the wealthy wonder how they will cope with the hard times that are almost on us. The sense we’re in a runaway crisis is everywhere.

Everywhere, that is, except among the leaders of our self-indulgent government. It has shirked its duty to lead the country and preferred to take a long, lazy holiday instead. For Boris Johnson, a redundant prime minister serving out his notice period, his life consists of Mediterranean jaunts. For Liz Truss and her supporters, it consists of lying back, like a sunbather on a beach, and soaking up the warm reassurance that comes when like-minded dogmatists confirm each other’s prejudices.

The gulf between the leaders of the country and the majority of citizens is wider than at any time since the over-confident David Cameron called the Brexit referendum.