Polly ticks
This week the UK got a new Prime Minister called Andy Burnham. He took over from Keir Starmer who had to stand down because of reasons.
Weeks before this happened, the media - especially the TV news and BBC News in particular - were running countless stories about how 'sources' within the Labour government were working to oust Starmer and how Burnham was top of the list to replace him.
When Burnham was in a position to challenge for the PM's job, News went into overdrive with speculation as to when the leadership challenge would happen, who would support it, who would opposed it, who - if anyone - would challenge Burnham's claim to the Iron Throne. It was relentless.
Sidenote: Starmer and Labour came into power because of the implosion of the Conservative government and 14 years of Tory policies that had effectively trashed the country. Starmer was the great hope to tackle the Cost Of Living Crisis, to help the poor and the working man, to restore Britain's pride. He made 10 pledges as to how he'd rebuild the country once he was in charge. Once he was in charge he quickly ditched those pledges and revealed himself to be a tediously dull, authoritarian with a desire to punish trans people and immigrants plus pander to big business rather than do good work.
2nd sidenote: British media is heavily skewed to the right wing. The BBC upper echelons are full of Conservative government appointments and Oxbridge chums. Any left wing government really doesn't stand a chance against BBC News' right leaning editorialism. So the Labour government might be doing exceptional stuff, but all that's getting reported is negative stuff.
So. Anyway.
New Prime Minister. Makes speech saying he's going to change stuff. There's a tiny chink of optimism shining through the dark, overcast British skies. The following day he makes an important announcement: he's scrapping the Digital ID card policy that Starmer wanted to force through parliament.
Yay! No more big brother! No more Keir Starmer watching you browse the internet!
He says he's using the money budgeted for that to scrap tax on Electricity bills.
Hooray! Help with our bills!
But wait! A former Labour minister speaks up to say there was never a budget for Digital ID, the new PM is already a liar!
The next day the PM announces a cap on bus fares. No bus fare to cost over £2!
Hooray! Cheap - and environmentally friendly - journeys to work! Help with our household expenditure!! Wheyyyyyy!
But wait! The BBC finds a man unhappy because it's just bus fares. Burnham's not doing anything for the working class like him who drives to work in his own car. So much for helping the working class, so-called Burnham!
Today Burnham seeks to relieve prison overcrowding by releasing people on lesser sentences early.
Hooray! A victory for people doing time for small crime! Less prison overcrowding, less stress on prison budgets!
But wait! A policeman was killed by two men, currently serving prison sentences who could be released early under this scheme! Imagine. Nasty, horrible killers of a lovely British Bobby, a friendly Copper's killers laughing and capering out of prison early, jeering at the justice system because there's a chance, a slight chance, a chance that hasn't actually been verified by anyone - just purely conjecture - they could maybe, possibly, with the wind in their favour get an early release.
This was the lead story on tonight's flagship BBC News show. A story about something that might happen that reflects badly on a Prime Minister just three days into the job.
It's almost as if the media, recently sated by their hand in getting the last PM out, now hunger for the blood of another. So the slow, relentless drip-drip-drip of negatively angled stories about the PM gently erode his credibility and public confidence in him plus - more importantly - the news cycle can once again heave its rotten carcass out of its pit to fill their 24 hour news channels with PM speculation based content.
As them Blur blokes said: Modern Life Is Rubbish.