There’s a moment — usually while watching a UK government minister explain why sewage in rivers is “within acceptable limits” or why the NHS waiting list is “a sign of the need for a private health service” — when you realise something important:
No one actually in charge would make decisions this bad.
Not if they wanted the country to function. Not if they cared about long‑term stability. Not if they had read even one page of a climate report.
From my perspective, the idea that the leaders we see are truly in charge doesn’t make sense — not logically, not structurally, and certainly not environmentally.
There are five reasons I believe this. And if you read on, I’ll explain.
Reason 1: The Decisions made in Westminster are too self‑destructive
Real leaders — even mediocre ones — tend to avoid policies that collapse public services, destabilise communities, destroy ecosystems,and create long‑term costs that dwarf short‑term gains.
Yet UK policy repeatedly does exactly that.
- Austerity hollowed out councils, environmental enforcement, and social care.
- Sewage deregulation allowed water companies to pollute rivers while paying dividends.
- Delayed insulation schemes increased bills and emissions.
- New fossil fuel licences contradicted climate commitments.
- Weak planning enforcement enabled environmental degradation.
From my perspective, this pattern looks less like leadership and more like someone playing Jenga with the country while blindfolded. If you live in the country why would you want smellier beaches and rivers, why would you want poorer public services, why would you want weaker planning enforcement. These things would harm you. It’s self-harm, unless you operate outside of it.
Reason 2: The Policies Consistently Benefit People We Never See
If the leaders we see were truly in charge, you’d expect decisions to occasionally benefit the public.
Yet the beneficiaries of many harmful policies are large corporations, financial networks, donors, lobbyists, and industries with deep political access.
Meanwhile, ordinary people get the detritus and outflow of the system these decisions create. I’ve personally witnessed higher bills, degraded biodiversity, failing services and polluted rivers. More lately I’ve witnessed services being foisted upon communities to deliver without the funding to support them.
From my perspective, it’s hard not to conclude that the visible leaders in Westminster are simply the public‑facing mascots for interests operating behind the curtain. It’s the only logical conclusion I can come to.
Reason 3: The Leaders We See Don’t Behave Like People With Real Power
The third reason centres around behaviour and self-promotion. People with real power tend to speak confidently, act decisively, plan long‑term and avoid public humiliation.
But the leaders we see often at Westminster level through the never ending revolving door of PM’s
- contradict their own policies,
- announce plans that collapse within days,
- appear surprised by crises they helped create,
- and deliver environmental strategies that read like they were written during a fire drill.
For me, this is classic puppet behaviour: lots of movement, very little control.
Reason 4: The Environmental Decisions Are So Illogical They Must Come From Elsewhere
I guess I’m back to the illogical side of current leadership in the UK. If the leaders we see were truly steering the ship, they would not approve new oil and gas licences while claiming climate leadership. They wouldn’t underfund flood defences as storms intensify, they wouldn’t weaken planning rules that protect biodiversity. Nor would they allow sewage dumping during a biodiversity crisis while simultaneously allowing those in charge of our waste water to congratulate themselves with a meaty cheque that would wipe out the debt of 1,000 people.
These choices don’t align with any coherent environmental strategy.
They don’t even align with basic survival instincts. So they cannot be being made by the people we see.
They look like decisions made by someone who a) doesn’t live here b)doesn’t rely on public services c)doesn’t swim in British rivers and d)doesn’t expect to deal with the consequences.
Which raises the question: who are these decisions actually for?
Reason 5: Extractive Logic Is Too Consistent to Be Accidental
While reading up on how the worst examples of extractive leadership function I stumbled across this really simple formula.
Extracted value + externalised costs = maximum returns
In the UK this has been on repeat cycle for hundreds of years.
UK policy follows this formula with suspicious precision:
- Extract value from public services – externalise costs onto communities.
- Extract value from nature – externalise pollution onto rivers.
- Extract value from fossil fuels – externalise climate impacts onto future generations.
- Extract value from deregulation – externalise environmental damage onto ecosystems.
This level of consistency suggests coordination — not by the puppets on TV, but by the interests who benefit from extraction.
Final Thought
In summary, and I really can’t let this go now,
- The leaders we see aren’t acting like leaders.
- The decisions don’t make sense if they’re in charge.
- The beneficiaries are people we never see.
- The environmental harm is too consistent to be accidental.
- The extractive logic is too precise to be random.
They’re just puppets!
The puppets wave. The strings tighten. And the environment — like the public — pays the price while Sooty and Sweep tell jokes at a Fringe show as the stage burns around them and the corrupt media tries to convince us it’s a good idea to stay in our melting seats….
They’re not even hiding it anymore. We see them. But they continue to prance around like in the Emperors New Clothes pretending to be in charge, laughing at us all as they throw bananas at each other in the Houses of Parliament under the pretence of democracy. While we all sit watching. Secretly hoping that someone, anyone, will ease the pain and cut the strings to those shadowy figures who seem intent on ending all life on earth and replaces the puppets with mature, considered, empathetic real people.
I’m off to listen to some old punk music now to try and get my “puppet on a string” earworm out of my head. I wonder what metaphorical scissors are necessary going forwards to bring about real people power….