LONDON, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- A catalogue of problems in Britain has recently been laid at the door of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and this could exacerbate the situation for the ruling Conservative government in the run-up to next year's general election, a leading expert has said.
Professor Iain Begg from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) said the list of problems feeds into a narrative that "Britain is broken."
As eyes focus on next year's general election, Begg told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that "I cannot see a scenario under which the Conservative Party suddenly emerges like a phoenix from the ashes."
Begg said there are many seemingly "unrelated" things going wrong in Britain at present, including air traffic control and school concrete safety fears.
"But it does feed into a general narrative, which is saying Britain is broken, that is being inevitably put at the hands of the government, who are taking the blame for things that may well not be their fault directly, which contribute to a general sense of malaise about the state of the country."
The list of issues includes the problem of crumbling concrete that has forced the full or partial closure of over 100 schools across the country at the start of the new school year; the recent crash of the country's air traffic control system, which has grounded thousands of aircraft; the effective bankruptcy of Birmingham, one of the country's largest cities; or the escape from prison and the ensuing 75-hour manhunt for a 21-year-old terror suspect, for which the government's austerity is widely blamed.
All these come on top of high inflation and a cost-of-living crisis for many.
The growing list has provided ammunition for Britain's opposition parties, particularly the Labour Party, which blame the Conservative Party for 13 years of "mismanagement" and is scenting victory in next year's general election, Begg said.
"Whether or not it's the result of 13 years of Conservative mismanagement is one of these open questions. I would add a further explanation, which is that many things in Britain have been done over decades on a 'just-about-enough' basis," said the professor.
Begg cited Heathrow Airport as an example. "It's one of the busiest international airports in the world, yet has only two runways, partly because there's never been the ability to take a decision to have a further runway, irrespective of whether or not you believe in having more or fewer airport runways. It's running at near capacity."
"It's the same in a number of other areas. The health service is always teetering on the precipice of going wrong. It only needs something a bit beyond the ordinary, discounting the pandemic, which was very dramatic in this respect, and the health service starts to fall over as well," he said.
"What this testifies to is a propensity in Britain to invest the minimum necessary to achieve what it is you want, and you're therefore always struggling to cope with the unexpected," Begg said.
"Certainly, it's been exacerbated over the last 13 years of current government, either in its own right or in coalition, because it's been rather tight with the public finances, at least for longer term purposes," Begg said.
Talking about the prospect of the general election next year, Begg said the Conservative Party faces an enormous challenge to win. Sky's recent poll tracker showed the Labour Party with an average lead of 18 points in the polls.
"I can't see any realistic scenario under which the Conservative government wins a majority in the next general election. It may not lose as many seats as are projected at present, but it's still going to come second to the Labour Party, even though the Labour Party might not be capable of governing on its own," he said. ■
