Samuel Earle

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They Wrecked Britain, and They’re Not Going Anywhere

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As Britain prepares for the coronation of its new king, an end-of-days feeling is sweeping the nation. In an atmosphere of social unrest, economic dysfunction and government corruption, deep political disillusionment has set in. The Conservative Party is polling 15 points behind the opposition, and the popularity of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the Conservatives’ fifth leader in seven years, remains obstinately low. After years of Tory misrule, the opinion of the British public seems clear: We’ve had enough.

And with good reason. For over a decade, the Conservatives have ransacked the country they claim to love, unmooring it from its foundations and enriching their chums.…  Seguir leyendo »

It Feels Like Boris Johnson’s Britain Is Finally ‘Sinking Giggling Into the Sea’

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For Boris Johnson, Britain’s embattled and scandal-ridden prime minister, nowhere is safe.

On Thursday, that may become inescapably clear. Two local elections — one in a traditional Tory area in South Devon that the party has controlled almost continuously since 1885, the other in a postindustrial seat in North England that the Tories took from Labour for the first time in 90 years in 2019 — will deliver a decisive assessment of Mr. Johnson’s flailing popularity. As things stand, the Conservatives are set to lose both.

Mr. Johnson’s ability to win over such disparate people and places — affluent farmers and neglected manufacturers, the shires in the South and old Labour heartlands in the North — once ensured his position at the top of the Conservative Party.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘Matrix’ representa el optimismo por un internet libre. Silicon Valley tiene otros planes

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Cuando se estrenó Matrix en 1999, la expectativa sobre internet había llegado a un frenesí. La revista Time había nombrado a un joven Jeff Bezos como la Persona del Año, por personificar los dos grandes temas del momento: “el comercio electrónico y la manía de las puntocoms”. La BBC lo declaró “el año de internet”. En The New York Times, Thomas Friedman describió la web como “un símbolo de que todos estamos conectados, pero nadie está al mando”.

Algunos designaron con entusiasmo a Matrix —con sus efectos especiales innovadores generados por computadora y su estilo ciberpunk— como “la primera película del siglo XXI”.…  Seguir leyendo »

Britain Is Heading Into a Nightmarish Winter

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Long lines outside gas stations. Panicked drivers fighting one another as the pumps run dry. Soldiers deployed to distribute fuel across the country. And in the background, the pandemic stretching on, food rotting in fields and families sinking into poverty. This is Britain in 2021.

Not long ago, as Prime Minister Boris Johnson lifted all pandemic restrictions in July, the mood across the country was cautiously optimistic. A successful vaccine rollout had finally restored cherished freedoms to daily life: visiting friends and family in their homes, socializing with strangers, eating in restaurants. Cases of the virus continued to multiply, but the number of hospitalizations and deaths fell markedly.…  Seguir leyendo »

Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain and President Biden in Cornwall, England, on Thursday. Despite all the havoc Mr. Johnson’s Conservatives have caused, the party is in a stronger position than ever. Credit Pool photo by Toby Melville

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Boris Johnson, Britain’s freewheeling, clownish prime minister, is about to play host.

On June 11, the day after a private meeting with President Biden, Mr. Johnson is scheduled to welcome other Group of 7 leaders to Cornwall, on the southwestern coast of England, to discuss climate change, the global pandemic recovery and the retreat of liberal democracy around the world.

Yet Mr. Johnson may have other things on his mind. Over the past few months, a series of scandals and allegations has put the prime minister under unusual pressure. There have been accusations of corruption, reports of bitter rivalries on his closest team and, to top it off, explosive testimony from his former chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, that laid responsibility for the handling of the pandemic in Britain — where over 125,000 people have died of Covid-19 — squarely at Mr.…  Seguir leyendo »

“The crocus of hope is poking through the frost and spring is on the way,” Mr. Johnson said at a news conference from Downing Street. Credit Pool photo by Jeremy Selwyn

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After the darkest of winters, the mood in Britain is finally lifting. On Feb. 22, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a tentative path out of the nation’s third and longest lockdown.

“The crocus of hope is poking through the frost and spring is on the way,” Mr. Johnson said at a news conference from Downing Street, with characteristic pomp.

Britons could be forgiven for being skeptical. Mr. Johnson’s handling of the pandemic has been riddled with bluster, broken promises and devastating results: more than 120,000 people have died here, the highest total in Europe and, per capita, one of the worst death rates in the world.…  Seguir leyendo »

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Britain, bruised and wary after months of lockdown, is reopening.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson triumphantly announced a major loosening of restrictions. Much of the country’s cultural and recreational life — pubs, cafes, museums, galleries, cinemas, hotels — will return on July 4, while the distance people are required to keep from one another will be reduced from two meters to one, or about three feet.

“Our long national hibernation,” Mr. Johnson proclaimed, four years to the day since the Brexit referendum he did so much to sway, “is beginning to come to an end.”

The move is not in itself foolish.…  Seguir leyendo »