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»We all live in a Brexit tragedy, a Brexit tragedy, a Brexit tragedy...«
Jörg Schindler, DER SPIEGEL»
No matter where you look at the moment, it's crumbling.«
The cost of living is exploding, nothing is working in the municipalities and municipalities anymore, millions of people are slipping into poverty. Strikes have repeatedly paralyzed half the country, and have done so for months.
Jörg Schindler, DER SPIEGEL
"We have nurses, emergency doctors, normal doctors, bus drivers, train attendants, etc., all of whom are constantly on strike in some way, and they don't do that out of stupidity. They don't do this because they find it so insanely funny, but simply because the situation is the way it is. And it's really quite modest."
Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister
"There's no doubt about it: it's time for change – and we are."
The Conservative prime minister appeared self-confident at the Tory annual party conference – even though the country is in an unprecedented crisis. And Great Britain has had this under control for some time:
Last year, for example, the largest British food bank association distributed more than 3 million food parcels, more than ever before in the United Kingdom. People depend on the growing number of food banks and food banks. In winter, there were also increased energy costs: around 40% of Britons said they could barely pay their gas and electricity bills.
For some Britons, "Bloody Brexit" is the cause of the misery. But is that true?
Jörg Schindler, DER SPIEGEL
"Even before Brexit, almost everything was in trouble. And Brexit was practically an attempt by the governing Tories to say to the people: If only we can finally free ourselves from the shackles of the EU, then everything will be great. And to be honest, I understand a large part of the people who said at the time: Well, we can find something better than death everywhere. Then, in God's name, let's vote for Brexit now, in the hope that things will get better."
However, things went downhill all the time. As a result, many people feel the "Bregret". In
2016, a narrow majority of 51.9% of voters voted to leave the EU. Today, even many of the "Leave" voters are disillusioned: if a referendum were held now, 18% of them would vote for re-entry.
57% of Britons believe it was wrong to vote for Brexit in 2016 – the highest ever poll was recorded in August. The trend remains high.
"Brexit is a disaster. We're all worse off!"
And anger against the Tory government is growing. In the polls, Labour is stable ahead of the Tories by about 20 percentage points. In desperation, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who initially staged himself as the voice of reason after the Johnson-Truss circus, is increasingly reaching into his populist bag of tricks. A bit of anti-woke rhetoric for the conservative soul:
Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of Great Britain
"A man is a man, and a woman is a woman. That goes without saying!"
Sunak's main rival Keir Starmer will have to position himself at the Labour party conference in Liverpool from Sunday. The Labour leader is unlikely to use the word "Brexit" – for reasons.
Jörg Schindler, DER SPIEGEL
"Because they simply know that the moment we come out as too pro-EU, it will be another very radical 'they want to reverse Brexit' campaign. Now there are people who say: well – so what? In other words, if a majority would like to reverse it in the meantime. But it's still a big danger, because it's above all this so-called Red Wall in the middle and north of England, where people defected en masse to Johnson in the last election. And for the most part, they are simply in favor of Brexit. And Labour would simply shoot itself in the foot if they were to stand up today and say we have to go back to the EU."
Keir Starmer used to be considered more pro-EU. Today, he is keeping a low profile on this issue as well. Will he get away with it?
Jörg Schindler, DER SPIEGEL
"From my point of view, it's a very fatal strategy to say: I'd just better position myself on nothing at all and just hope that the others will make mistakes. Because if the others stop making mistakes at some point and maybe even the economy starts to pick up again, then that lead can shrink quite quickly."
But this is anything but certain, for Prime Minister Sunak the principle of hope applies. The forecasts point to slight economic growth of 0.3 percent, but it is questionable whether this will be enough for a change in sentiment.
Jörg Schindler, DER SPIEGEL"
We'll see. So at the end of the day, the question is whether people will remember when there is an election next year that they have been governed by five different Tory prime ministers for 13 years and that it has been rather steadily downhill in that time."
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