Don't Bank on Barclay

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Well, things do seem to be boiling up, good and proper. Steve Barclay - the Health & Social Care Secretary, whom one would assume has the remit and responsibility for health & social care, after all - appears to be lobbying the unions to put pressure on his own Treasury, to support the claims of the striking NHS staff [source: The Observer]: a whoa! moment, if ever I saw one. WTF? This is the self-same Steve Barclay, who has been trotting out the party line and doing the 'Union Barons' shtick since he took office? He now seems to be taking sides against his own PM and Chancellor, who refuse to budge, saying 'there's no more money'.

What does this all mean? That his office is essentially powerless against the central cabal, so much so that he has to go cap in hand to his apparently sworn enemies to convince his erstwhile friends and allies to perform a similar volte-face? I, for one, remain as confused about exactly what it is this (these) serial Tory government(s) actually believe themselves, let alone what it is they imagine they represent. Led by donkeys, lunatics/asylums, parade of fools: dear God, we need to be rid of this troublesome government...

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