I’ve known for sometime that ‘democracy’ in this country is ‘fake’, and we only have elections to give the people some ‘pretence’ that we live in a fair and democratic society.

As far as I am aware, Conservative party members are still sending in their ballot papers to vote on who of Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak should be the next party leader, who will of course then become the UK Prime Minister. The deadline for postal ballots to be received is September 2nd, with the votes being counted and results announced on Monday 5th September.

However I came across the following ‘open letter’ article on the Birmingham Mail website (I wouldn’t be surprised if the same article appears on other local Reach Plc news websites) and I wonder if someone has played their hand far too soon, or maybe they’re just giving the game away and hoping no-one notices?

I notice these things of course!

Dear Liz Truss… Your country needs you to act now on cost of living crisis

Birmingham Live calls on the new Prime Minister to act immediately to help families with rocketing energy bills

Liz Truss is widely expected to be announced as our new Prime Minister next week. She will enter Number 10 at a time when millions of people are worried about how they will pay their bills and stay warm this winter, with inflation at its highest point for 40 years and energy costs to soar to more than £3,500 for a typical household from October – with warnings of worse to come in January.

The impact of the crisis is being felt keenly here in the West Midlands where child poverty levels are among the highest in the country. Here we set out our message to the incoming Prime Minister on behalf of the people of Birmingham and the Black Country about what must happen right away.

Dear Ms Truss,

Being Prime Minister is the highest office in our land – but there is something more important. It brings with it responsibility for more than 65 million people and right now a significant chunk of them are worried.

Inflation is at a 40-year high and energy bills are about to reach a point which is frankly unaffordable for many. They’ve not heard much from the Government over the past few months on an issue which could not be more vital to people’s everyday lives – but they have heard and seen the alarming forecasts about how much their bills are going to cost them.

At this time of crisis – and let’s not understate it, that’s exactly what it is, affecting so many households – they want to hear from the person in charge. During the needlessly and unbearably drawn out Conservative leadership contest you appear to have been performing to the tiny Tory membership who have elected you and pandering to energy giants, rather than saying much of substance to the millions desperate for help.

They want to know whose side you are on and right now they might not be too sure, especially if they have been paying attention to the interminable hustings debates. “Profit is not a dirty word” may not be the response a mother struggling to feed her kids or a pensioner worried about freezing in her home would have wanted or expected to hear when you were asked about the billions raked in by energy companies while prices for ordinary families soar to unprecedented levels.

“Dear Liz Truss… Your country needs you to act now on cost of living crisis” – Birmingham Mail, 30th August 2022

Come on, why publish an open letter to Liz Truss when she hasn’t even been announced as the next Prime Minister yet?

Notice the keywords “widely expected” at play here. On what evidence?  And you’ll always notice how the media seem to report on things that are ‘set to be announced’ before they even happen.

So lets get this straight, Tory party members haven’t even finished posting in their ballot papers, and no votes have been counted yet, but the media “widely expects” Liz Truss will be the Prime Minister next week, and are already sending their open letters demanding what she must do.

No, I’ll put it another way, the “media” know who the next Prime Minister is, because its all a charade, and everything is pre-determined.

On this occasion, I think the media have played their hand far too soon, yet sadly not enough people will notice or realise this.

Of course, there is always the possibility that Sunak might actually win, and in that case then the media end up with egg on their face.

But I don’t think that is likely. The media is more powerful than our own government.