The new political buzzword is ‘Neglexit’: the state of being in which, because the government is so wrapped up in Brexit negotiations, Britain is barely being governed. No big, visionary new policies are being launched. Gone are the days when every parliamentary session included an NHS Bill, a Criminal Justice Bill or an Education Bill.
‘The UK is stuck in political and bureaucratic torpor. The country — as an administrative entity — has virtually stopped working… ministers just don’t have the time to attend to the needs and ambitions of ordinary citizens,’ said a report from Bloomberg Businessweek. ‘Theresa May’s flagship EU Withdrawal Bill has taken up 273 hours of legislators’ time — 17 times the average spent on other bills.’
How dreadful that sounds, I thought, as I crawled in my car towards a box junction last week. Then I realised I was at one of those junctions where the traffic lights had stopped working and no traffic police had yet arrived to take control.
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