Fget ‘leṿlñ-up’ – Liz Trus z’nt īvn pritndñ t cer abt iniqoḷti
(Transcription of an article published in the Guardian on 18 September 2022)
Undr Boris Jonsn, ɖ ajnda feld bcz v inc̣hiṛns n incompitns. Fr ǎr ny PM, ɖ probḷm’z îdịlojicl
Jon Haris, Súnde 18 Sptmbr 2022
Az ɖs most strenj n sriyl v naśnl momnts hz unfoldd, vôsz v pǎr n inflụns hv constntli tōct abt naśnl yṇti n śerd fīlñ. Ɖ mīdia r sudnli awoś wɖ “w” n “s”. Ol ɖoz flǎrz, flagz n banrz imbodi ɖ sem mesij: ɖt ẃtvr ɖs cuntri’z tnśnz n rzntmnts, ɖ Ynîtd Cñdm rmenz xacli ɖt. Bt, bî a grim axidnt v tîmñ, ẃn poḷtics rzymz ɖs wīc ɖ bigist stori wl b abt smʈñ ɖt sjsts ɖ xact oṗzit: a guvnmnt so uncnsrnd bî ɖ hyj gaps ɖt dvîd ppl n plesz ɖt it z gwñ t wîdn ɖm īvn frɖr.
Frîde wl si ɖ mć-treld “fiscl ivnt” in ẃć ɖ ny ćanslr, Qāzi Qarteñ, wl ǎtlîn ɖ dītelz v ɖ guvnmnt’s eṇjiprîs frīz n ɖ taxcuts promist bî Liz Trus in hr campen fr ɖ Tori līdrśp. Ɖ Reẓluśn Fǎndeśn recnz ɖt, on aṿrij, ɖ rićist tnʈ v hǎsholdz wl beṇfit fṛm ɖz meźrz bî abt £4,700 a yir, ẃl ɖ purist tnʈ wl rsiv £2,200. Bî we v adñ insult t inɉri, twdz ɖ end v last wīc nyz brouc v Qarteñ’z pś t rmuv ɖ xistñ cap on bancrz’ boṇsz, a leġsi v ǎr membrśp v ɖ YY. Az wɖ Trus’z hostiḷti t an xtndd windfōl tax on ɖ big eṇjicumṗniz, hir wz mor prūf v hr guvnmnt’s ci intnśn: t “g fr groʈ” bî priṿlijñ wlʈi n pǎrfl ppl n inṭrests, in ɖ hop ɖt dwñ so mt būst ɖ YC’z ǎtpt.
Clirli, ɖt aproć līvz litl rūm fr ɖ jumbl v poḷsiz, reṭric n haf-formd intnśnz noun az leṿlñ-up. Ɖt ajnda wz eilñ olrdi: īvn az Boris Jonsn cntinyd t tōc p sm imajind rībaḷnsñ v Britn az hiz big miśn, transportplanz sntrd on ɖ norʈ v Ñgḷnd wr cansld n cut, ɖ Ẃîthōl scīmz ɖt rplest YY fundñ fr ɖ rījnz v ɖ YC trnd ǎt t b a śado v ẃt prisidd ɖm, n ɖ loñ-awêtd leṿlñ-up ẃîtpepr wz trnd intu a nonivnt bî Riśi Sŭnac’s rfyzl t bac it wɖ eni ny public muni. Bt in ɖ wec v Jonsn’z fōl, leṿlñ-up hz bn sîdlînd īvn az a veg îdīa.
T nwn’z gret s’prîz, Trus’z frst spīć ǎtsd Dǎnñ Strīt md no mnśn v ɖ trm at ol. Ɖ Dpartmnt fr Leṿlñ-up, Hǎzñ n Cḿṇtiz z nǎ ɖ rsponsbiḷti v ɖ lo-wotij Tori ministr Sîmn Clārc. Ǎt in ɖ riyl wrld, ɖ cmpaṛtivli smōl-scel projects fundd bî £4.8bn v dedcetd leṿlñ-up muni r nǎ ʈretnd bî rîzñ infleśn – n lêt last wīc, ɖ Fînanśl Tîmz rportd ɖt amñ bʈ locl caunslz n Ẃîthōl insîdrz, “ɖr wz no xpcteśn v xtra caś fṛm sntṛl guvnmnt”. So far, wn v ɖ fy glimrz v ʈncñ abt rījnl iniqoḷti amñ Trus n hr alîz hz bn a fuzi sjsćn ɖt “srtn eriaz” wl b trnd intu lo-tax, dīreğletd enṭprîz̦onz – a rīhītd vrśn v an old n feld îdīa, n a far crî fṛm past leṿlñ-up proṃsz v infṛstrucćr, impruvd edyceśn n ol ɖ rest.
Undr Jonsn, leṿlñ-up’s fełr cd b pt dǎn t a lac v chiṛns n compitns. Bt in Trus’z ces, ɖ sns v ɖ îdīa hitñ ɖ wōl z ɖ rzult v îdịlojicl cnvix́nz hîlîtd in hr frst big TV inṭvy. For dez bfr ɖ Qīn daid, ś apird on ɖ BBC’z ny program Súnde wɖ Lora Kuenssberg, ẃr ś wz asct bî ɖ host ẃ ś wz prîoṛtîzñ taxcuts ɖt wd hyjli beṇfit ppl at ɖ top. Trus blîɖli cnsidd ɖ pônt. “Bt t lc at evrʈñ ʈru ɖ lénz v rīdistṛbyśn, I b’liv, z roñ,” ś cntinyd. “Bcz ẃt I am abt z growñ ɖ icoṇmi, n growñ ɖ icoṇmi beṇfits evrbdi.”
Trus ń ɖ sgnificns v ẃt ś wz trayñ t xplen, īvn f Kuenssberg dd’nt sīm t. “Ɖs z a riyli importnt pônt,” ś insistd. “Ɖ ic̣nomic dbet fr ɖ past 20 yirz hz bn doṃnetd bî dscuśnz abt rīdistṛbyśn. N ẃt hz hapnd z, w hv hd reḷtivli lo groʈ … n ɖt hz bn holdñ ǎr cuntri bac.”
Sūṗfiṣ́li, ɖs z a vri strenj vy v ɖ past tū decedz: wz ɖt pirịd riyli so “doṃnetd” bî a dbet abt fernis n iniqoḷti ɖt it stîfld ɖ icoṇmi? Īvn in ɖ Ny Lebr ira, sīńr poḷtiśnz tndd t cīp qayt abt sć ʈñz: Gordn Brǎn’z rīdistribytiv poḷsiz, let s nt fget, hapnd larjli bî stelʈ. Morovr, wns Devid Camṛn n Jorj Ozbōrn tc ovr, osteṛti enśurd ɖt iniqoḷti – nt līst in its rījnl maṇfsteśnz – got mć, mć wrs. So hu or ẃt wz Trus’z targit?
Ẃt ś wz riyli bmonñ, it sīmz t m, wz ɖ trn Tori poḷtics tc aftr ɖ Brexit reḟrendm. T’rīza Me n Jonsn me hv qoḷfaid ɖer tōc abt ɖ YC’z iniqoḷtiz bî insistñ ɖt ɖe dd nt intnd t tec muni fṛm eriaz at ɖ top v wlʈ n incm rancñz. Bt ɖe nnɖles tōct p ɖer foc̣s on dis’dvantijd ppl n plesz, n clemd ɖt ɖe cd yz ɖ stet t start t rīśep ɖ Britiś icoṇmi. In Febrri ɖs yir, ɖ ɖen leṿlñ-up secṛtri, Mîcl Gov, cntrastd leṿlñ-up wɖ “tricl-dǎn īc̣nomics”, n sd ɖt f ɖ fri marcit wz left t itslf, “ɖen ẃt y si z iniqoḷti growñ”.
Ɖs z ẃt Trus n hr alîz hv sīmñli cm t avnj: az Ʈać̣rît tru b’livrz, ɖe ʈnc ɖt īvn ɖ most hafhartd inṭvnśnizm mt līd t ruin (hns hr iniśl rjx́n v “handǎts” t īz ɖ eṇjicrîsis), n ɖt ultiṃtli, iniqoḷti z jst anɖr wrd fr ẃt mcs capiṭlizm so dnamic. Hr felo Tōriz si ɖs linćpin v hr b’lifs vri clirli. “Ś hz an ajnda, it’s qt îdịlojicl, n it’s vri Cnsrṿtiv,” sz Ozbōrn. “W dd’nt gt ɖt wɖ îɖr Boris Jonsn or T’rīza Me.”
Ɖt last pônt z tru. Ɖ fact ɖt Trus’z tū prīdisesrz sd ɖe wd muv awe fṛm post-Ʈaćr Toriizm, in fact, wz a big part v ɖ rīzn ẃ ɖ p’liticl loyltiz v formr Lebr hartḷndz bgan t śec in 2017, līdñ t ɖ fōl v ɖ so-cōld red wōl tū yirz lêtr. Hvr dluźnl it me nǎ sīm, plenti v ppl in sć plesz hd votd t līv ɖ YY in a spirit v hop, n bʈ Me n Jonsn ɖen dd ɖer bst t cnvins ɖm ɖt ɖer opṭmizm wz’nt msplest.
Nǎ w r sudnli in a vri difṛnt p’liticl clîṃt. Ẃt, y cn onli wundr, z Trus’z mesij t votrz hu liv in ɖ cnd v eriaz stl rūtīnli trmd “left bhnd”? Ɖt ɖe òt t damp dǎn ɖer hops, d ɖer bst t gt ʈru hard tîmz, n rjôs f sm śŭgŗuś būm in fînanśl srṿsz pśz p naśnl incm bî a fy p’snt? F ɖt rmenz hr guvnmnt’s aproć, miłnz v ppl wl nǒ xacli ẃt ɖe r dīlñ wɖ: ɖ end v eni linġrñ hops ɖt leṿlñ-up wd mīn enʈñ, n ɖ rtrn v ɖ crīdo ɖt enśurd ɖe wr left bhnd in ɖ frst ples.
