The Art Of Politics: August Edition – The New PM Settles Into The Job Of Driving The Brexit Bus Cliffward
by Richard Bruton
It’s August… here’s what’s going on with the political cartoons in the UK, as we settle into having a new Prime Minister, seemingly determined to drive the Brexit bus right over the cliff at full-speed…
And yet, despite it all, the political elite over here are off on their vacays until September, which is fine seeing as that only leaves a month before PM Boris’ end of October deadline for the UK to leave the European Union. Oh Hell. We. Are. Doomed.
Still, at least the chaos has brought out the best in the political cartoonists and some non-political cartoonists, such as that Henry Flint, better known for his 2000 AD work, who gives us this perfect Boris… Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this is our Prime Minister…
As Boris swept into No. 10, he brought in his own specialised team of ‘experts’. Or, with Dominic Cummings, the new Special Advisor to the Government, a man who came up with the idea of Brexit meaning £350m-a-week for the NHS, perhaps misinformation guru might be more appropriate?
Or, as Stephen Collins would put it…
Or this from Chris Riddell…
Anyway, as the new government took office absolutely everything was lovely, the skies were blue, everyone was happy, and dancing unicorns rode in on rainbows…
Alternatively…
Sterling took another dive… which is great news if you happen to be changing dollars to pounds anytime soon. Although wait long enough and it might be a 1:1 ratio post Brexit. Here’s Steve Bell with his take on sterling in crisis…
And of course, our illustrious new PM started making all sorts of promises… such as the £1.8bn of extra funding for the NHS, which he absolutely, totally promises is all brand new money (hint… it’s not) …
Martin Rowson pricks a hole in that one…
Meanwhile, as Bozza and Cummings hatched plans for the NHS, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid had his own plans for new currency celebrating the wonder that will be Brexit… new 50p pieces…
And then there was Operation Yellowhammer… the work across the government to address the immediate impact of a no-deal Brexit. Basically, the experts are saying things could be bad (food shortages, medicine shortages, transport chaos, the works), but it’s all going to be ok, because the government says it’s going to be ok.
Nicola Jennings on Operation Yellowhammer…
The whole Brexit farago has led the UK to consider some interesting constitutional questions, with the leader of the Labour opposition, Jeremy Corben, proposing that parliament has a vote of no confidence in Boris and he’ll take over and immediately call a new election and new Brexit referendum. It’s all very complex, but the odds of it happening are so slim it’s barely worth considering… but it does give Martin Rowson some ammunition…
Towards the end of the month, as I was relaxing on my vacays, the whole issue of trade deals reared its ugly head, with Boris going over to the EU and trying to convince them that everything would be great if they’d just agree to all the things they’d previously said a resounding no (or in Macron’s case… Non). Here’s Steve Bell with that one…
We even had the Prime Minister doing his best Trumpet impression by claiming as fact that which is undeniably not, such as Melton Mowbury pork pies being made in Iceland and Thailand… news to Melton Mowbury for sure… here’s Martin Rowson on that…
But, we’ll end this month with my favourite Brexit cartoon this month… Chris Riddell on the new four horsemen…
And with all this stuff going on over here, there’s only been a few spare moments for any time to consider the ongoing wonders of US politics… here’s Steve Bell on Trumpet’s response to the (seemingly) daily mass-shootings…
