‘The stench of incompetence’ is the accusation being levelled at the UK government by even the right-wing media as yet another fiasco piles on top of several previous. First overseeing one of the highest Covid fatality rates in the world, wasting vast sums on PPE that doesn’t work and trumpeting a “world beating” track and trace system that …. doesn’t. A minor hiccup as they failed to shoehorn their candidate onto the Intelligence Committee to divert an embarrassing Russia report spotlighting Tory donors; and a glossed-over planning scandal involving yet another non-resigning minister. Now the exam fiasco which every other European country has managed to handle without causing outrage. And we haven’t even got to Brexit or how the economic fallout will be finessed after throwing money around with abandon. The scenario has been likened to Plato’s ‘ship of fools’ – ‘ignorant fools elect persuasive fools and are then led to ruin.’
Boris’s government hasn’t even got to its riskiest banana skin which turns up from October 2nd as tr Neptune squares the Mars/Pluto and Venus/Mars midpoints which suggest catastrophes and no will or wit to overcome them. It runs across the supposed Brexit New Year exit until late January 2021. With the December Sagittarius Solar Eclipse conjunct the Government Sun for a crisis or many in the months thereafter. And a lacklustre, sagging tr Neptune squaring the Sun from late March onwards, on and off for a year.
Boris’s personal chart has a Midheaven directly in the line of fire from the most recent Lunar Eclipse suggesting this was always going to be a career critical few months for him – and the pressure won’t lift with the December Solar Eclipse hitting his Gemini Sun, Venus and Mercury; plus his Solar Arc MC being exactly conjunct his Uranus now (birth time being accurate to the minute). All in all the heavens are descending on his head.
Gavin Williamson, 25 June 1976, the hapless Education Minister, now foisting the blame sideways onto regulators, is a Sun Venus in Cancer square Pluto, trine Uranus; with Mercury (Moon) in Gemini opposition a slippery Neptune; and a flashy Mars in Leo in an opportunistic square to Jupiter. The June Solar Eclipse rattled his Sun Venus so he wasn’t going to miss a nerve-stretching challenge or two.
A new health initiative has been set up, as Public Health England (PHE) was landed with the blame for the pandemic mishandling and deleted. The National Institute for Health Protection (NIHP) was launched yesterday morning with immediate effect.
PHE was an excitable Sun, Venus, Mars, Uranus in Aries square Pluto; with a head-in the-clouds Jupiter square Neptune; an over-grandiose Yod of Saturn sextile Pluto inconjunct Jupiter and another Yod of Sun sextile Jupiter inconjunct Saturn. Stressed, chaotic and none too practical.
The new NIHP circa 12 noon 18 August 2020 is not that dissimilar with Mars in Aries square Saturn, Pluto, Jupiter; with a Yod of Pluto Saturn sextile Neptune inconjunct the Leo New Moon – an apex Moon is certainly keen on nurturing but can be disorganized, not adaptable and tends to act in a self-defeating way. An apex Sun tends to throw its weight around and either be too full-on or not enough. There will be mountains to climb in 2021/22 with tr Pluto square the Mars and conjunct Saturn which doesn’t give much hope of its chances of overcoming the problem.
Baroness Dido Harding, 9 November 1967, has been hoiked in to lead it who appears to be part of the chumocracy, married to a Tory MP, and recently in charge of the less than useful Track and Trace programme. From failure to failure up the ladder.
She’s a Sun Scorpio with Uranus, Pluto, Venus in Virgo and a Yod of Jupiter sextile Mercury inconjunct Saturn in Aries with her Saturn square Mars in ambitious Capricorn. Tough certainly, but facing the same uphill struggle as NIHP with a failure-ridden and career-losses next month as tr Neptune squares her Jupiter/Saturn midpoint, which repeats next February; more slipping and slithering from this October through January 2021 and then a discouraging and panicky run from late January through 2021 into 2022.
Just to check the astrology – the PHE chart, 1 April 2013 – has exactly this year Solar Arc Uranus conjunct its Mars, Solar Arc Saturn conjunct its North Node and Solar Arc Neptune square Jupiter – for a disruptive crisis brining high insecurity, a moment of truth and delusions exposed. The replacement may not fare much better.
See previous Boris posts: Brexit August 3 and July 16 and June 4 2020.
This is from someone who works for Public Health…
“Very sombre team meeting today and my boss shocked and upset by the news Public Health to get blame and Public Health England to be dismantled. Every single public health person in the country has been working tirelessly on this since March. I have colleagues who are over worked and frazzled – sometimes working through weekends only to be told by the Daily Telegraph that they are rubbish and not needed.
Instead Dido Harding ( who famously couldn’t even run Talk Talk call centres) is to be the head of it. She went to school with Boris and is “friends” with people. Dominic Cummings is delighted and in fact most likely instigated this as he’s upset that Chris Whitty didn’t back his eye test drive to Barnard Castle.
Once again – the public & government – (who in a public health pandemic – seem NOT to know what public health is) – have forgotten that public health is also sexual health services, advisors on food standards, tobacco control, drugs and alcohol , data and health equity (stopping post code lotteries) and behaviour change, mental well being, policy on air quality, child health services as well as improving quality and safety of NHS services – they’ve forgotten – or perhaps don’t care.
What government dismantles public health in the midst of a public health crisis? They even call the track and trace – the NHS track and trace – even though it’s not NHS.
They took Public Health out of the NHS – which means public health don’t have access to NHS data. They put their cronies in charge of Track and trace – sidelining local teams. Then they blame public health for failing. It’s a very ridiculous and dangerous game they are playing with YOUR lives. And yet the Daily Telegraph, Times, Sun and Daily Mail readers believe them.
My boss said he felt like going on strike – though obviously we won’t.
Wake up Britain. The world is sleepwalking into a strange rabbit hole. This lot are not keeping you safe.”
Thanks for the counterbalance. Politicians do a have responsibility, even if they have outsourced much of the work to private companies. Yes, there are long term, structural political and economic failings being exposed here – chiefly the con that the free market will provide everything while governmental responsibility is seen as a relic of a bygone, failed era, or as unwelcome imposition on ‘free will’. This free market mantra is the driving force behind why Boris and his cohort are quite happy to take a no deal Brexit. Then, of course, with governement departments being cut back to the bare bones, there is always someone else to blame or stigmatise – PHE, people (often ethnic minorities) who are living in cramped, deprived areas where covid 19 mortality has had the greatest impact, the EU if there is a no deal Brexit.
Thanks Marjorie. Regarding comments about the public sector my understanding/ impression is that the Government prefers to listen to its private sector pals. Apparently Public First, run by long term close associates of Dominic Cummings and Michael Gove, has been working with Ofqual since June on the A levels on a non tendered contract. This is not Public First’s only contract acquired in this way. Public First did not produce the Algorithim but seems to have a lot of influence. Would it be possible to look at this company and also Michael Gove, Marjorie?
Tx Marjorie, What I simply don’t understand is why so many people are still giving these terrible arrogant people the benefit of the doubt. Is neptunium deception to blame?
Some have literally no integrity, this has not always been the case and people of integrity have occupied high office. But around the world it’s seems a large section of certain Governments elites don’t believe the rules apply to them, the level of blatant cronyism is astonishing and at a level which seems out of control. It’s seems strange that in the UGov polls, Boris does well around May 19th and has fallen since will the 2nd Saturn and Jupiter conjunction see his balloon burst?
Only my opinion but it feels like you are describing passive observers with no power to implement change. Isn’t one of the problems that when they do instigate change it is self serving, not properly thought out and inadequate? Almost lazily done to make superficial impact. Don’t they have licence over those actions at least?
@ Hugh Fowler
In response to your second post at 1.04
Incompetent as the current government maybe I think there is a bit more going on here than just individuals in ministerial roles who are poor there jobs. I think it has revealed structural problems that go back years. Gavin Williamson may be out of his depth as Education Secretary but I very much doubt he personally came up with the spec for the algorithm used in the Exams fiasco. Similarly, I don’t think the Health Secretary would claim to be an expert in modelling epidemics. Ministers rely on experts in public sector for advice on these matters and that seems to have been found wanting in a number of areas. The UKs poor performance in managing the Coronavirus has not been helped by Johnson’s governments policy gyrations but my suspicion is that it would not have been wildly different with a different PM or Cabinet as it reflected flaws in the very system of public administration in the UK. It is easy to mock the seeming endless vanity , stupidity and incompetence of politicians but I think that is perhaps missing what is really occurring. To my mind the Saturn/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn at the beginning of 2020 represents a bit more than just a judgement on Johnson’s government which had only been in office a month when it occurred. In fact it is highlighting flaws that have built up over decades in our society. The rather simplistic idea that shuffling the faces at the top or even swapping the party in government is going to fix things is in my view naive. The problems are systematic and I don’t think either side in the current political debate really have any solutions. This is a reality which the US are probably about to find out in the wake of their upcoming President election.
Yes, it seems the global effects of the Coronavirus have revealed all manner of issues and problems in our world that have, as you say, been building up for decades. As far as the UK is concerned, it will be interesting (if that’s the word) to see what the hefty line up of planets in Aquarius and Taurus bring early in 2021. Mars in both 1066 and 1801 charts for the UK will be stirred up. As will the Moon in Aquarius in the US chart too – “we, the people” are likely to have much to say.
Looking at the U.K.1801 chart, transit Uranus is going to trigger that Fixed Grand Cross for a number of years to come – in the Fixed Houses too – a whole onslaught of upheaval lies ahead of us!
Yes that 1801 chart was under similar pressure when Uranus tracked through Scorpio in the late 1970s being exactly conjunct the UK Neptune during the Winter of Discontent of 1978-79. There is a similar sense of unraveling now. The problems of the 1970s went way beyond the failings of individual politicians. It was a malaise that struck at the very machinery of government. I get a similar feeling of unravelling now. In that respect the issues that fill the news headlines are less important than the underlying story they tell.
I think people tend to make a common mistake of thinking ministers have more control over how the country is run than is actually the case. They may set out policy guidelines but they have surprisingly little direct control of actual day to day execution of government. In fact the chief role of ministers when disaster strikes is to act as public scapegoats for their Departments. They get offered up as sacrifices to the angry public while the actual government machine trundles on as before. Normally this has little impact except when the actual mechanism of administration starts to suffer crises faster than the political process can handle it. That tends to happen when some major factor outside the governments control such as oil price rises in the 1970s or the Coronavirus now starts to put pressure on the government’s administrative processes causing them to malfunction or breakdown. That is essentially what we are seeing at the moment. When that happens it does not really make much difference whether the party in power is Labour under Jim Callaghan in the late 1970s or the Conservatives under Boris Johnson now because the outcome is the same.
Great insight, it makes sense, thank you Hugh.
I don’t disagree with some of what you say, Hugh but I do think individual politicians are at the very least partly responsible for these cockups. A dysfunctional system isn’t responsible for weak leadership, an invisible PM who fails to turn up for COBRA meetings and an unelected spin doctor who appears to have been given free rein.
And at least Jim Callaghan turned up for work each day and didn’t run away to Scotland in the middle of a national crisis.
A big difference between now and the 1970’s is privatisation; the government just doesn’t have the same control over the national infrastructure as it once did. However, the privatised infrastructure will still need bailing out by the taxpayer, so we have all of the responsibility and none of the control. But guess who’s to blame for that?
It’s interesting to look at the 1970’s UK history, thank you, Hugh. Politicians of both major parties were struggling it seems. The Three Day Week arrived under Ted Heath’s Tory government, coming into force on 31 December 1973. It might also resonate with current times I think, with that sense of unravelling you mention. On 1st January 1974 Pluto in Libra (6) was approaching it’s square to the UK 1801 Sun. Mars was in early Taurus, approaching it’s return in the UK chart, also Venus in Aquarius poised to do the same. The Moon’s nodes were 28 Sagittarius – opposing the current NN in Gemini now, which does suggest a cycle of some sort for the population, and perhaps the media too. Chiron was also in Aries then. Uranus was still moving through the UK first house, perhaps for a continuing sense of change of national image?
By 1976 when Britain’s Labour government borrowed vast sums from the IMF Pluto was square UK Sun, and Uranus in Scorpio was moving towards Mars, and onwards…..
Hugh, Maybe Dominic Cummings is right and the civil service/quangocratic deep state needs a radical overhaul. The MOD’s finances certainly need an iron fist brought to bear. But the European countries seem to have managed to handle the exam dilemma without causing such a ruckus – and I’m not sure I buy that their underlying government machinery is so much superior.
The ‘showbusiness for ugly people’ trend for politicians in recent years has produced grandstanders not nuts n’ bolts public servants. They are parachuted into departments for which they have zero experience and are not in many cases on top of their brief.
The calibre of the public agency CEOs may be lamentable and the set up needs a rethink, but I wouldn’t let the politicians off the hook. Their game, their responsibility to fix what’s broken.
Boris Johnson literally had a dimming, dying star conjunct his natal Sun/Venus as he took office
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53218658
Boris is on holiday in Scotland at the moment.
Bookmakers are taking bets on who will be seen first….. Boris or the Loch Ness monster
or him golfing with Drompf?
Thanks Marjorie. I think there’s a general feeling that Johnson won’t see out his term of office. Astrologically, I think June/July of 2021 looks iffy for Johnson – Chiron will be conjunct his descendant, Saturn in Aquarius conjunct his Part of Fortune and the solar eclipse of June 10th not only conjuncts his Mercury in Gemini but opposes his Term of Office‘s Sun in Sagittarius. Johnson also has a Mercury Return on the day of the eclipse. Once Saturn enters Aquarius it will conjunct Cummings’ North Node.
The level of incompetence in this shambolic administration and the bone idleness of its leader is breathtaking and as for their ability to successfully deliver Brexit, I think the country’s faith in that is shaky to say the least.
Yes, VirgoFlake, I agree about Johnson not seeing out his term of office. As someone said recently, he liked the idea of being PM, and he likes the idea of having been PM, but not the reality of the job itself. He seems to be very much a Gemini, and will be missing his usual distractions I suspect. If what seems to be emerging about the longer term effects of Covid are accurate, he may also be lacking in energy. I’m also reminded of the photos of the inside of his car last year…..careless chaos. He is a clever man, but his mind struggles with practicality and, it appears, reality. He and Cummings have created this shambolic administration by getting rid of anyone who might disagree with them, or hold opposing points of view. I would imagine many of those individuals are hatching plans of their own from the back benches…..December’s Saturn/Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius aspects both Uranus and Chiron in the Term chart, from the 12th house of self undoing and hidden enemies.
‘December’s Saturn/Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius aspects both Uranus and Chiron in the Term chart, from the 12th house of self undoing and hidden enemies.‘
Oh, I think there’s almost certainly mutterings afoot behind the scenes, Jane. The thing is, earlier in the year when Johnson was at death’s door with the virus (and I agree – his long-term health may well be adversely affected – Chiron is currently in his 6th) he had much goodwill from the British Public. That goodwill was demolished following Cummings’ refusal to apologise for breaking the rules, his obvious lies and his arrogant rose-garden address to the nation. That level of conceit broke the Public’s faith and was reflected in a significant fall in Johnson’s approval rating. But no lessons have been learned from that debacle. Cummings has since been allowed to run roughshod over the Civil Service and now the armed forces and intelligence, a very controversial move which threatens to alienate the government further from the public. I think once Cummings falls (and he will), Johnson may well step down.
Astrology-wise, Cummings’ crazy stellium in Sagittarius is in the midst of a transit nodal axis, with the South node touching each planet well into 2021. Meanwhile, next July, BML conjuncts Cummings’ Sun.
Correction, ‘BML opposes Cummings’ Sun.
Thanks Marjorie. Oh dear. Rebranding Public Health England seems like an example of ‘fiddling while Rome burns’. The new name also diminishes that sense of the collective that the word ‘public’ gave to the former organisation. Not a great idea in these times when a sense of public responsibility for ourselves and others is so important.
As far as the idea of “the public” goes, I noticed that the NIHP Neptune aligns neatly with the Moon’s S Node in the 1066 chart. That, in turn, is conjunct Chiron at 22 Pisces, sign of nursing and sacrifice. I don’t think this bodes well – more of the same bureaucratic insanity? The confused karma of this slippery government and it’s almost invisible PM?
Then looking at the UK 1801 chart, it’s BML is at 26 Gemini. Moon’s NN now is 27 Gemini – a glimpse of the public’s collective exasperation? Transiting Uranus has been square the 1066 Mars in Aquarius (8), and is putting pressure on 1801 Mars in Taurus (11). The NIHP’s MC in Leo, and it’s Uranus at 10 Taurus completes a disruptive little picture here……