The Parliament of Westminister in London is considered “the mother of all parliaments”. For more than 900 years, laws have been passed inside those chambers that governed not only how England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland were run, but the entirety of the British Empire.

Even in the post-colonial era, the Westminster system is still the de facto system of governance in most of the 54 countries that form the Commonwealth of Nations spread around the world.

Yet the term “British democracy” is slowly proving to be an oxymoron in nature. As each week passes, it becomes increasingly clear that those who sit in positions of power in Britain are on the verge of political civil war.

For the entirety of 2022, the world has witnessed the ruling Conservative Party bereft of discipline, direction and democracy. When someone such as Boris Johnson could seamlessly move from scandal to scandal without sanction, it was clearly a red flag of what was to come.

In July when the excuses could be no longer tolerated, there was an exodus of ministers from the Johnson Administration. This then prompted a leadership race between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss.

A series of debates around Britain showed that Ms Truss was seriously out of her depth. But despite her obvious political shortcomings, she was portrayed in the media as the second coming of Margaret Thatcher, and 60 per cent of Conservative members voted for her. On September 6, she became the very last British PM to be received by Queen Elizabeth II.

The penny drops

Within one month, it was crystal-clear that the experiment of Liz Truss equated to rising mortgage rates, an increased deficit of £50 billion, and the devaluation of the pound sterling. On October 20, after only 45 days as prime minister, she was forced from office.

Yet another example of when right-wing media hype goes wrong.

Within hours, a campaign for the return of Boris Johnson, yes the same gent that ignited this disaster, began in earnest. At the same time, Rishi Sunak gathered scores of endorsements from his fellow MPs.

On October 24, it was announced by Sir Graham Brady of the 1922 Committee that Mr Sunak was the only candidate who met the required 100 letters of support. Therefore, he became the unelected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories. The third prime minister in fourth months, and the very first British-Asian leader.

Rightly or wrongly, within hours of this announcement, it became evident that a large proportion of the country did not accept this as a legitimate appointment, and began demanding a General Election.

Devolution

In the other three nations of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, it has become evident that the façade of a unified kingdom is slowly unravelling.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, of the Scottish National Party, has recently made two major declarations. The first that there must be a General Election called for the UK. The second, and most significant, that Scotland will hold a referendum for independence on October 19, 2023.

In Northern Ireland, the frail political truce between the Tory-backed Democratic Unionist Party and the pro-republican Sinn Féin fell apart on October 28, when the DUP wilfully failed to form part of an executive. By law, there has to be yet another election for the Parliament of Stormont held within 12 weeks.

This will be their second election in 2022 alone.

Viewing this constant political chaos in Britain, one can see that the independent nations and Overseas Territories are much better examples of political stability.

• Christopher Famous is the government MP for Devonshire East (Constituency 11). You can reach him on WhatsApp at 599-0901 or e-mail at carib_pro@yahoo.com