[Opinión] César Luna Victoria: Peruvian the British | OPINION

Between September and October, the British wept twice for Elizabeth. One for the death of his queen Elizabeth II and another for the disaster of its prime minister Elizabeth Truss. They both fired them. The queen was buried in St George’s Chapel in Windsor, with great fanfare. The prime minister resigned 45 days after being elected, without any sanctions. Truss didn’t like being compared to Margaret Thatcher, but she wanted to be like her. She just has to dress the same way. He wanted to speak as loud and direct as she was, but he was clumsy, like when he commented that English workers were the laziest in the world and had to get him back; or like when, to explain the problems of foreign trade, he said that the United Kingdom imported two-thirds of the cheese she consumed, producing smiles and not worries. She also wanted to repeat her liberal policy and cut taxes. Thatcher had reduced taxes, but compensated for the poor collection with proceeds from the sale of public companies, controlled the budget by reducing subsidies and government spending, and most importantly, reduced inflation. She reactivated the economy and, while the benefits arrived, the malaise was diluted by winning the war of the Malvinas. Instead, Truss had no public companies to sell, no budget cuts, no inflation. Worse still, you have triggered the fiscal deficit, which can only be financed with more debt. In reaction, the British pound fell like never before. There wasn’t even a war to win. She had to resign.

Rishi Sunak is the new prime minister. He was, in economics, the equivalent of the deputy minister in Theresa May’s government and the minister in Boris Johnson’s government. The Johnson administration fell because Sunak resigned earlier, claiming Johnson was on the wrong side of the economy. Then there were the internal elections to the Conservative Party, which Truss wins with the proposal to lower taxes. Sunak loses them because he replied that inflation had to be controlled first. Truss became prime minister and we already know what happened. So, in Sunak’s election this time around, the Conservative Party seems to be opting for economic prudence. But they will not be able to cut the budget, as the economic ravages of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have yet to be addressed. Inflation is more dependent on how the market reacts to central bank interest rate hikes. The economy will shrink further and, what’s more, it will have to restore the taxes that Truss has reduced.

In favor is that Sunak is concerned about climate change and that he is the son of Indian immigrants. But he is not a stranger; he studied in the best schools and universities, and is the most millionaire of parliamentarians. His wife is even more millionaire. If they have an interest in tax havens to avoid taxes, a scandal can break out. The Conservative Party controls Parliament, but is discredited by the Johnson and Truss governments. If the elections were today, they would lose the government.

The international press commented that having three prime ministers in 50 days and internal struggles in the Conservative Party was the Peruvian way, because our political volatility is famous all over the world. But this is where the similarities end.

In the UK there is discussion about how to reactivate the economy and the fact that taxes, subsidies and public spending are not at stake. Instead, here, in a final detail, we see how Vladimir Cerrón continues to control the Ministry of Health and has appointed ministers who facilitate the great corruption. And nothing happens. Yes, we discussed whether the new minister’s dress was appropriate for taking the oath.