Sunak: How Did We Get Here?

How did we arrive at Wishy-Washy Rishi getting a second shot at being Prime Minister? Unless Penny Mordaunt pulls a miracle the ex-Chancellor will be Prime Minister. However, Mr. Sunak is remaining tight-lipped about this prospect.

Sunak was the man catapulted into being the UK's Finance Minister by one Boris Johnson. A man Sunak stabbed in the back as soon as he had the chance. When Boris was weak and battling for his political life Sunak plunged the blade metaphorically. Many Tories will never forgive him for this and will make his tenure at No 10 difficult. Labour too, riding high in popular opinion, will be out to attack Sunak's status as the richest MP in Europe.

Mr. Sunak was very popular when he was Chancellor during Boris' reign. He brought in the furlough scheme when people could not work because of COVID. He gave out loans and grants that helped businesses to survive. He brought out the 'eat out to help out scheme' where people could eat for free on certain days. However, some blamed this scheme for spreading the virus more quickly.

Mr. Sunak has come in for some stick for his billionaire wife and her residential status in the UK. Controversy about did she pay taxes here or not. The fact her father is the owner of Indian IT giant INFOSYS. The fact Mr. Sunak worked for hedge fund companies and other controversial financial establishments. It was said that Mr. Sunak and similar people were responsible for the great financial crash of 2008.

Sunak has also come under scrutiny for his connection to far-right Indian politicians. His in-law's connections to the far-right BJP party and Prime Minister Modi. The BJP represents a nasty brand of extreme Hinduism who are into people like Hitler. The BJP also has connections to Nazi groups in the West notably in Europe and the United States.

Sunak denied he had attended parties with Boris in Downing Street and White Hall. When subsequently, Boris was fined for breaking lockdown rules, Rishi admitted he had lied. He received a fine and this made him look no better than the Prime Minister.

Boris stepped aside as Prime Minister and what ensued was a battle for the leadership of the Conservative party. Liz Truss and Rishi emerged as the front runners. Rishi had the backing of Tory MPs but the 150,000 - 165,000 Tory members wanted Liz and they got her. Sunak was banished along with Boris to the back benches. So it looked like it was game over for the golden boy of Toryism.

However, the mini-budget unfurled by Truss and her Chancellor Kwarteng proved to be a disaster. The Pound crashed, and the Bank of England had to intervine to save people's pension funds. To give the rich a tax break while poorer people were left carrying the can. Mr. Sunak said this would happen and suddenly he became a Tory prophet in the wilderness. Truss sacked Kwarteng and brought in ex-Health Minister Jeremy Hunt. Hunt scrapped most of Kwarteng's budget and appeared to be bringing back austerity. Hunt also shortened help for energy bills from 2 years to next April.

In parliament Truss yelled at the opposition parties she was a "fighter not a quitter". However, she must have thought over her dire situation and consquently she resigned. That left Boris, Penny Mordaunt and Rishi Sunak in the running. Boris after meeting Mordaunt and Sunak agreed to not enter the leadership contest. Mr. Johnson said he would lead the Tories into the 2024 general election and win. Either the man is deluded or he is waiting for Sunak if he is Prime Minister, to fail like Truss.

If Wishy-Washy is Prime Minister it will be made known by all the news carriers around the world. There is also a certain irony historically because once India was part of the British Empire. Now we appear to be on the cusp of a British born Indian becoming the first Hindu leader of the UK. Talk about what comes around goes round. And to quote a chinese curse finally we do indeed "live in interesting times".