Rex Murphy: Was this week’s most heralded speech from the throne a success? Well, as I see it, if clichés, bad grammar, vapid assertions and a grade school level of eloquence can lift a nation’s spirits, the throne speech was the elevator we were all waiting for. By any other measure, it was a maudlin bore, of a banality so painful it may have induced shock in the few who willingly endured the whole of it.
To be blunt, this speech was not worth waiting all summer for; certainly not worth shutting down Parliament to “prepare” for. And it was, not incidentally, fairly strong proof that the only real reason Parliament was suspended was to, temporarily at any rate, push the WE Charity mess out of the news.
For all the buildup we had to the return of Parliament, nothing really changed this week. People are as anxious now as they were last week. Businesses continue to close at staggering rates. People are still confused over the various injunctions they have received from their political leaders and public health experts during the pandemic. The deficit and debt are still monstrous. The likelihood that both will swell even more gigantically is still there. The energy industry is still under siege.
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