What a remarkable month we have had in September. We knew already that we would have a new Prime Minister in early September and a change in Government. But no one was expecting that this would be the month when Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, would die, but much to the surprise of everyone, including the Prime Minister whom she had appointed only a day before, she did.
The moment the Queen died, her heir became king: King Charles III. So the country now has a new King and a new Government. Prince Charles had ruffled a few feathers in the past, by expressing views that were deemed to be political, but in recent years he has won a lot of respect and affection from people, now enhanced by his latest statements recognising the constraints of constitutional responsibilities of a monarch.
The Prime Minister has a free rein for appointing the Cabinet, of course, and the most senior members appointed by Liz Truss seem to be all people who are her close supporters. Maybe she is being pragmatic as she wishes to push ahead with her controversial economic policies, but it is difficult to see how it will help unite the Conservative Party or heal the country.
Moving on to the world scene, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is making major changes to the way we, especially in Europe, look at global power balances. An obvious example is that of our dependence on gas and oil from Russia, but it goes beyond that and is more fundamental. After Mao Zedong’s era in China, and with Mikhail Gorbachev opening up Russia, the world scene looked as if we were heading for a less confrontational and more open period of international relationships. What we now realise is that we need to learn how to live with major autocratic powers with blatant disregard for human rights (e.g. in the treatment of Uighur people in China, and by brutal war crimes in Ukraine). This is increasingly difficult in our interdependent world.
Looking on the positive, we have had some rain at last and the grass is green all around!
Comments