When a picture paints a thousand words, a good political cartoon can skewer the vainglorious, the ignoble, the incompetent, and the thoroughly corrupt. Or, as we more commonly call them, politicians. It’s The Art of Politics for the final time in what’s been a long, long year.
Ben Jennings looks back on 2022…
Martin Rowson sums up some of the UK’s political year…
While Peter Schrank sums up the year at large…
LET’S BEGIN WITH THE COUNTRY THAT REALLY CAN’T CALL ITSELF GREAT BRITAIN ANYMORE…
Strike, Strike, Strike, Strike…
Fittingly, I’m writing this bit of Art of Politics in the Accident & Emergency department (think ER for our US chums) of a Midlands hospital where we’ve waited about 5 hours to get to see a triage nurse for a 75-year-old cancer patient who hasn’t been able to eat anything and can barely drink anything because of the pain. The incredible nurses couldn’t get her a bed because the wards aren’t taking patients because there’s an ambulance strike in the morning. So, instead of getting her on IV fluids, we’ve been here in a crowded A&E where we’re hoping her immunosuppressed system doesn’t pick up any of the many, many germs in here. (Our five hours, by the way, was on the priority list. It’s touching on 10 hours to get to the triage nurse for non-priority.)
But, even with all this, I’m still on the side of the strikers amongst the (at the last count) Nurses, Ambulance workers, Rail workers, Bus workers, National Highways workers, Baggage Handlers, Royal Mail staff, Border Force workers, with the prospect of even more strikes in the coming months, including threatened industrial action by Junior Doctors, Midwives, Physiotherapists, Hospital Porters, Paramedics, Hospital Cleaners, Care workers, Social workers, Firefighters, Teachers, University Lecturers, Librarians, and a whole load of Civil Servants across all strata of government employment.
Now, if this seems very much like something amounting to a General Strike, you wouldn’t be wrong. And as much as the Government makes all the noises about getting the army to cover… it might find itself spread a bit thin.
Note, these are all the sort of workers we quickly realised were ‘essential’ during the Pandemic. Clap for nurses? Sure. Give them a pay rise that means that some of them can earn enough to stop having to go to food banks? Not a chance – that’s pretty much the governments negotiating stance right now.
And for those who parrot the argument that those such as rail workers are already paid a lot more than nurses – so what? They have a strong union who fights for them. We should all be on the side of the workers who keep the country moving and functioning, not punching down.
After all, in a country where our Members of Parliament have awarded themselves a cumulative 28% pay increase since 2010 and nurses have only had about a 12% rise since then (a significant real terms pay cut) – it’s pretty obvious where the priorities are.
Anyway, rant over… on with the political cartooning…
Chris Riddell with something seasonal… Richy Rich Sunak and the ghosts of Christmases past, present, and future…
And more from Dave Brown…
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Richy Rich Sunak digs his heels in over any large pay rises (and simultaneously plans to spaff a fortune up the wall over the King’s coronation)
Nicola Jennings on possible measures to curb the right to strike…
And let’s not forget where a great deal of the chaos with the National Health Service comes from – Brexit. Whether it’s the staff from overseas who’ve left or the lies put out about having £350 million a week that the Conservatives would spend on the NHS… Brexit has a lot to answer for.
Nicola Jennings on that…
The Right To Take Your Rights Away…
Suella Braverman, Home Secretary and minister most likely to spend Christmas skinning Dalmations in her ongoing attempts to be crueler than Priti Patel, previous Home Secretary, has continued plans to withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights.
Meanwhile, the party of opposition, Labour, have completely refused to promise to repeal any anti-strike laws. Which prompts the question… what the hell good are they if they don’t actually oppose?
Dave Brown on the government gleefully breaking ECHR laws over refugees…
Corrupt? Surely Not?
In a finding that surprised absolutely no one (apart from the fact there aren’t more names in the frame given what a shit-show the whole thing was) Baroness Michelle Mone, member of the House of Lords, has taken a leave of absence after being accused of making millions out of the Pandemic by being involved with/linked to PPE Medro, which secured £200million+ to supply equipment to the NHS including surgical gowns and masks after Mone flagged the company to health officials through the VIP lane of procurement.
The government is currently suing PPE Medro for the equipment, claiming it was substandard. (Daily Record/ Sky News) Is anyone surprised?
In Royal News…. No, But Where Are You Really From?
There was a right royal palaver at the start of the month when one of the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting and Prince William’s godmother, Lady Susan Hussey, decided it was okay to roll out the ‘no, but where are you really from?’ line of questioning when she was chatting to a guest at a reception, Ngozi Fulani, British charity executive who serves as chief executive officer of the registered charity Sistah Space looking after vulnerable women. (BBC)
More Royal News – Harry and Meghan – Driving The Royals To De-Spare…
More Royal rumbles this month, as the next Harry and Meghan media frenzy came spilling out from Netflix with the pair of former Royals releasing their six-part tell-all series.
It brought forth all the expected outrage/bile/anger/racism you’d expect.
And all that Royal News makes you wonder what Charlie is thinking now he’d finally got the job and was gearing up for his first Christmas Day King’s Speech… Morten Morland has an idea…
Rebecca Hendin on the difference between the King’s Speech and the tone coming from the Government…
ALL THIS AND A WORLD CUP TOO…
Yep, there was the end to the World Cup in Qatar. The football/soccer was rather fine but the sour taste in the mouth continued all through.
As usual, David Squires is absolutely spot on…
UKRAINE
Is It Still A War If No One’s Covering It? (Of Course It Bloody Is)
There’s a war on in Ukraine you know. Yes, you might not have heard all that much about it this month because it’s been going on a while now and the news always likes the new stuff more.
But yes, Vladimir Putin keeps throwing crap at the Ukrainians and they keep resisting.
And more from Peter Schrank…
And Ben Jennings on a New Year for Ukraine as the Russian bombardment of their cities continues and the death toll mounts…
COVID – AGAIN???
Oh yes, as the year ends and China opens up its borders once more, we get the chilling prospect of the Covid pandemic kicking off again – after all, China has hardly been what anyone could call open and transparent about its dealings with the virus and the infection rate in the country…
AND IN THE USA…
Well, it was rather quiet in many ways. Things just carrying on from previous months… The Jan 6 Enquiry finding (to no one’s surprise but the former Pres) that Trump should be prosecuted, the looming spectre of the 2024 election, Elon Musk destroying Twitter…
Waiting for the Election – time to tun again…
It might be a long time until the next election in 2024, but in political terms it’s definitely time to start running… Biden is presumably the Democratic nominee given he’s, you know, the President, but the Republican nominations will be a lot more interesting… Trump, DeSantis (presumably), and whatever/whoever else crawls out from under the political rock they’ve been under…
Kal –
Kal again…
Trump’s Legal Issues… Lots of them…
And again from Mike Peters…
Weather troubles…
The entire East coast and middle America has pretty much been under a bomb cyclone warning, with snow, snow, and more snow…
And Elon Musk being Elon Musk…
By which of course I mean the on/off richest man on the planet being a petulant child with no empathy, no plan, the temperament of a toddler, and way too much power…
Kal –
When a picture paints a thousand words, a good political cartoon can skewer the vainglorious, the ignoble, the incompetent, andCOMICONRead More