The Duel

Have you ever watched a duel?
Colloquial understanding conjures an image of two people committed to ending the other, with most imagining the persuit of honour. Brows perspiring, calculations of wind-speed, humidity, shot dimensions all threatening to paralyse the aspirants’ arm. The game theory derived in those tense moments eclipsing the understanding gathered by many statistics students.

The evolution of dueling is well beyond me – the struggle from Melee to sword to shot seems all there is.

Sometimes the term is applied to bodies – artillery duels, the fateful duels of capital ships deciding the fate of oceans similar, whose legacy was inherited by the financial duels of venture capitalists deciding the fate of regions. The duel has returned from the speck to the log in its scope, to bastardise a phrase.

Dueling in government is nothing new. Few will not know of Brown and Blair’s duels over the governmental helm – or even Thatcher and her cabinet within the modern Ides of March (not a compliment to either side).

What we now witness – the lobbying, the scandal – this may be the shadow play of yet another, titanic duel within government. It is odd that the two totemic figures at the heart of this are the dark mirrors of Blair and Brown.

First, allegations of Rishi making very noncommital statements to Cameron are trotted out as the final shot of the Greensill scandal. The only person untouched was Boris – whose famous animus to the ex-PM acted as an asbetos tunic, weaved to stop the flames from touching him.

That fire eventually burned Hancock more. Unlike Rishi, he didn’t obey the cardinal rule of politics: if you wouldn’t want it to be seen, you don’t leave a record of it. I feel little pity – he may be the simplest of the bunch, but his fake tears over vaccine success bely the ambition of an over-promoted desk-jockey.

As mentioned earlier in this blog, Rishi’s surprising meteoric rise – from Farage asking ‘who is this man?’ in Dec 2019 to Chancellor and the most popular minister in 2021 has surely not gone unnoticed. Nor has his ties to the new Tory stronghold within the north, since his constituency of Richmond is no longer an outlier but a path-finder.

Maybe this was an opening blow across the bow from a consolidated PM?

If it was, then if I have interpreted the latest information correctly, he may indeed know his game theory.

Though in context – if you think about it properly – the Dyson affair is sleazy, the public won’t care. Johnson knew his politician’s code inside out – learning from his many mistakes. The texts are inocuous- he offers all the help he can to save more British lives. But under the hood – tax breaks for billionares and many thousands of pounds a day to PR consultants – while a meagre below-inflation pay-rise for front-line NHS workers – display the decaying spark plugs of a stalling democracy and budding kleptocracy.

Now the opposition has been unseated from the challenger’s throne- more by happenstance than incompetence – the field is open to the Tory leadership to trade blows without forefeight of victory.
Perhaps this is the partially occluded match we see now.

The loser is the UK itself. While the Tory party is assured in England, the UK tears itself apart. Who can blame nationalists in Wales and Scotland from wanting rid of this scummy sleaze?
But in my opinion, this will be a great loss to our country. That the Tory leadership will not endorse independence shall only postpone and amplify the inevitable.

So as these two titans of politics (in title if not actual administrative ability) reload, measure the wind, and zero in on their opponents- lead shot is wildly spraying into the onlooking crowd. It is only a matter of time before that crowd becomes an indignant mob, and this duel slides into a melee.

(pay particular note to the primary sources of the information mentioned above – if you can find them).