Some of these blogs have been described as relentlessly gloomy so as the sun shines and the bags are packed for the summer holidays, it feels the right time to at least start with a few of the better current aspects of life in the UK.

First, the cricket. At the weekend, in the most thrilling of World Cup finals, England won by pipping New Zealand at the post in what can only be described as the equivalent of a penalty shoot-out. Fantastic. 8 million people sat on the edge of their seats watching the drama unfold on terrestrial television. An unheard-of audience for cricket, particularly when it clashed with the Wimbledon Men’s Final. So the lesson is to move this sport back on to free-view television channels away from pay only channels. Cricket can then capitalise on the momentum of England’s win and regain the hearts of the British public permanently. And that is before the Ashes…

Taking pride in Pride. In all the talk of the xenophobic climate created by Brexit, and a harsher tone in public life generally, it is worth reminding ourselves that the UK is mostly a liberal, progressive country in the very best sense. 1.5 million people turned out for Gay Pride in London earlier this month and it was a brilliant and fun spectacle for people of all sexual orientations. The run-up to the event had hundreds of companies decorating their buildings with rainbow colours. Whilst there were some grumbles about commercial exploitation, it is worth reminding ourselves that there used to be nothing ‘commercial’ about supporting gay rights even 15-20 years ago and that to discriminate on any related grounds is not only illegal but actually not acceptable to the vast majority of the public. To add to this, Alan Turing, the brilliant World War II code-breaker who took his own life when faced with chemical castration to deal with his homosexuality, now adorns Britain’s new £50 note. How far we have come.

But then, sadly, it all seems a little tarnished by the display of British democracy on show over the summer. An electorate of just 160,000 unrepresentative Conservative Party members, who support anything from the death penalty to breaking up the Union for the sake of Brexit, get to choose our next PM. The choice is between two candidates prepared to wreak havoc on the British economy just to win the election. They have spent the savings from 10 years of austerity already through reckless promises given in dull, almost staged Party debates and Johnson, the way ahead front-runner, incredibly, also uses these occasions to threaten to suspend Parliament to get a no-deal through. Wasn’t the Brexit vote about ‘taking back control’ from the EU through re-establishing the primacy of parliamentary democracy?

So time to leave the country for a while and head to good old France. They might not get cricket or put on a Pride celebration like London but, with all their revolutionary fervour, at least they are not tearing themselves apart over leaving the EU. And, in a reversal of the usual pattern of history, the English Channel from the opposite side, offers at least temporary respite from the fun and frolics of English excess that is likely to be Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Happy Summer Holidays!

Extraordinary…

Let’s start with the Tories. Boris Johnson is proving to be one of the most divisive PMs in modern history and that is before he has even taken office. The former Tory PM, John Major, threatens to take the Government, run by his own party, to court if it tries to suspend parliament to deliver Brexit. Johnson won’t rule this out.

Then we have ‘Ambassadorgate’. Britain’s Ambassador to the US is forced to resign in the face of a bullying, out-of-control President. Trump refuses to do business with him after the leaking of ‘diplomatic’ intelligence giving a frank assessment of the incompetence of the Trump Administration. Sir Kim Darroch could have clung on had Johnson chosen to back him in a leadership debate. He didn’t and, as the next UK PM, that made Darroch’s position untenable, hence his departure. In a breath-taking interview, a serving British Foreign Office minister calls Johnson’s actions ‘contemptible’, accusing him of having ‘thrown our ambassador under a bus’. What is it about Johnson and buses?

Equally incredible, the current PM, Theresa May, is threatening to appoint a US ambassador before Johnson takes office, in turn facing attacks from Johnson’s supporters who claim it is a deliberate sabotage of his approach to US/UK relations.

All of this will have no impact on the Tory leadership battle of course. The Tory membership is overwhelmingly white, male and ‘older’; in favour of hanging, Farage and breaking up the Union to achieve Brexit if necessary. Like Trump, any scandal washes off Johnson…for now…and he will become the PM the week after next.

And whatever his detractors say, Johnson is no buffoon. He is a dissembler, an embracer of the far-right when it suits him, and ruthless. With no political principles and a chaotic private life (no moral judgement here but where will he find the time to stay on top of the detail…?), he will go to any lengths to gain and hold power, possibly destroying many unwritten constitutional principles in the process. He will embrace Trump along the way and will move the Tories, at least in appearance, to the Alt. right. In fact many Tory MPs think he will blow up in office quite quickly; but are banking on him getting them through Brexit first. Oh dear…

Now to the Labour Party. Destroyed by a BBC documentary yesterday on anti-Semitism, it is over for Corbyn who is allegedly not in good health anyway. Split on Brexit, essentially Marxist in all but name, riven by factions and with most able Labour MPs refusing to serve on the front bench, they are offering no opposition to the chaotic Tories.

The future? The best is that Johnson negotiates an amended Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Unlikely. The most favoured option is that in the face of an intransigent EU and with no parliamentary majority, Johnson calls a snap General Election on a manifesto of a hard, no-deal Brexit. The hope is that this achieves victory by absorbing Brexit Party support. The alternative is a Labour, LibDem, nationalist parties coalition limping on to a second General Election, suspending Article 50 in the process and splitting the country. Yuk!

There seems no optimistic way forward and the focus might as well be on enjoying the summer holidays, preferably at a safe distance from the imploding political system back at home.

Away from the grim tedium of British politics and its cadre of self-serving politicians, two reports this week merit some observations on the health of the planet.

THE BBC ran a clip on the Amazon rain forest highlighting the pace of its destruction. Under the stewardship of the populist, President Bolsonaro, who believes the rights of farmers ‘trump’ environmental concerns, destruction of the Brazilian rain forest incredibly is speeding up. One football-pitch sized piece of rain forest is being destroyed every 60 seconds with all the threats to indigenous populations and wildlife that brings. That is before we consider that the Brazilian rain forest currently absorbs 20% of the world’s carbon dioxide.

At the same time, a piece of analysis from the shrewd Gideon Rachman in this week’s FT about ‘the perilous politics of climate change’ appeared. In Australia, amid unprecedented high temperatures and drought, a conservative coalition intent on embracing fossil fuels won a surprise election victory. As Rachman suggests, when you take the US into consideration too, there are ‘important and potentially discouraging lessons for climate campaigners’. Politicians advocating radical actions to tackle climate change are at risk of electoral defeat if it is perceived to hit living standards.

Climate change and protection of the planet are key concerns of a good part of the electorate. It is now high up in the list of concerns of the investment community as it embraces Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) policies. It is apparently ranked as the top issue by US Democrats. The Green Party surges across Europe. Then David Attenborough makes a guest appearance at Glastonbury to wild cheers, not heard since the appearance of Jeremy Corbyn…umm…

More needs to be done to allow climate change and environmental concerns to overcome populism and define election results, however. It cannot be an issue simply of the wealthy and better educated. Or left to Extinction Rebellion blocking roads in London.

Which takes us to a second article in the FT. Yesterday, one by an equally shrewd Martin Wolf, outlined the causal link between liberalism and stronger economic performance. Societies that embrace economic and political rights guarded by independent legal systems are wealthier. Those that do not are not. Take Russia for example.

So combining liberalism with the case for tackling climate change both at a micro and macro level in language that wins over those who embrace populism might just work. That means not just lofty scientific reports by inter-governmental organisations (the ‘elites’) but explaining country by country, district by district, what it means for them. The cost of environmental disaster versus a vibrant green technology industry creating jobs and wealth for everybody. You have coherent debate backed by facts in a liberal setting applicable to all voters.

Actually, the UK is getting quite good at this as it seeks to become carbon neutral by 2050. Even on the Right of the political spectrum, May and Gove, sometimes offset sadly by the lovely populist, Johnson, are good advocates of the benefits of liberalism and environmental considerations.

So, imagine a world where coherent policies on the environment determine most election results. Where liberalism dominates populism on this topic through open, fact-based debate because it is couched in terms everyone can understand and benefit from. A world where David Attenborough is listened to by everybody. Now there is a goal to aim for and, to use an unfortunate analogy in this context, ‘kills two birds with one stone’…