Rishi Sunak needs to weave the political tapestry

It is not yet August and the Ashes series is ending, ravaged by the weather. We can only hope that the British summer is not also at an end. It would be vexing if all the heat had migrated to the Mediterranean. 

There are, of course, other forms of heat, traditionally associated with August: heat from the drums of war. The Ukrainians are using drones and threatening Crimea. Zelensky is a brave man who has come to symbolise his country’s resistance. But he sometimes gives the impression that he is being carried away by his own rhetoric.

Putin, meanwhile, is sounding increasingly minatory, with references to nuclear weapons. The agenda for Henry Kissinger’s recent visit to Beijing included Ukraine. It is to be hoped that the wisest geopolitician of our age managed to persuade his hosts to exercise their influence in a peace-making direction. There are merits in clear-eyed realism and intellectual cold showers.

There is one senior politician who does not need to be convinced of the need for rationality and calm. Rishi Sunak plays the political game like an old-fashioned Yorkshire opening batsman. No Bazballer he. During the Australian first innings, when the colonials seemed determined to grind the match down into catatonic tedium, one commentator remarked: “This is Boycsball.” He was referring, of course, to the quintessential Yokshire batsman, Geoffrey Boycott.  

Like most cricket-lovers from his adopted country, Sunak can see the merits of the great Boycott: his grit and adhesiveness at the wicket. In politics, however, Boycsball is not enough. The Prime Minister has many merits. For a start, he knows how to play the part. Although Theresa May did her best, it was never good enough. As for her two successors, the less said the sooner forgotten. Now, at last and thank goodness, we have a PM who sounds like the first minister of a serious country.

Even so, he faces another challenge. The other day I was discussing the Thatcher era with an old friend who saw it all, but wishes to retain anonymity. We considered Geoffrey Howe, who made a huge contribution which she never acknowledged. “There’s one key point” said the friend. “Geoffrey was a tapestry weaver. He saw the big picture of Government, understood how the various scenes were related and could then explain everything. Who is doing that for Rishi Sunak?”

It may be that in No.10, they are focused almost exclusively on living standards. There is the fear that the public are only interested in one question. When will they feel better off? If Ministers talk about other matters, the worry would be that the voters would become exasperated and conclude that Sunak and his team were trying to distract them because they had no answers.

If that is the No.10 view, it is an error, for three reasons. First, the Government cannot control the pace of the recovery. It can hope for progress – but hopes are not certainties. Second, as a means of dealing with that, ministers may be underestimating the public’s sophistication. A lot of people are aware that the UK’s problems are anything but unique. It should be easy to explain the recent historical background to our current travails, and if ministers sound confident in exposition, they should win at least a grudging respect.

Third, there are other important matters, especially energy policy, education, housing and wokery.

On housing, the Tories have been too slow to act, partly because Boris Johnson lacked the courage to tackle difficult questions. But it is possible to build houses without destroying the green belt. Michael Gove is now on the case, though his proposal to build 250,000 houses in Cambridge is not his best idea. Perhaps there was a typo, with an extra nought slipping through. 

On energy, there is no reason to give way to panic now and the threat of economic disaster to come. As Tony Blair has come close to admitting, there are sensible solutions.

When it comes to education, the Government has never done enough to extol its own successes.

On Wokery, there is a difficulty. The other day, after at least three re-sits, Keir Starmer passed ‘O’ level biology. He has no intention of being co-opted by the loonies. He wants to win an election.

But Sir Stumbler has a problem. We know what he opposes: anything which might seem unpopular, even if it had been Labour policy five minutes earlier. But what does he stand for? 

Rishi Sunak should find that challenge much less troublesome. But it is time for him to crack on and put the tapestry-weavers to work. 

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