Boris
Following the departure of Cummings and co, many wondered whether Boris was actually capable of governing. Some, including me, were certain he was not. Over the past week nothing has happened to cause me to change my mind; the Devolution gaffe and the Priti Patel row merely served to reinforce my conviction. Yet I have to admit that I detect a sense of relief at the centre of government.
The shot of fresh air flowing into that hot house we call Number Ten, seems to be detectable even in my little village in the back of beyond. And in spite of continuing dramas and the festering scandal of contracts for friends, who have made dodgy fortunes out of pandemic panic, I think there is some sort of order beginning to appear. A clearer plan, not just for the pandemic, but for economic recovery too. Maybe I am wrong. Brexit, or rather what form and its cost, will be the test.
Trump
The deranged lawsuits and briefings of Trump’s lawyer, now a laughing stock across the globe, added to Trump’s wild tweets about non existent electoral fraud, have shredded this controversial President’s reputation internationally. His refusal to concede and his general handling of his own failure, have damaged America’s standing abroad to the point where it has almost certainly lost forever its status as leader of the free world. The fact that America is polarised between two irreconcilable views of life, will make it unlikely that it will be able to restore its former glory.
When he takes office President-elect Biden will do as much as he can to repair the damage and America will remain the dominant economic power at least until it is overtaken by China. But the moral leadership, tarnished by flawed post cold war adventures, leading to endless wars and failed democracies, has now gone for good. The failures to deal with Covid 19 and the aging structures of some of its democratic institutions are the last straw. Too many other developed countries have done better on Covid and all of them have smoother running and fairer democratic processes.