"Is the Prime Minister home?"

I can see people knocking on the door of "The Lodge" and asking that question - if they can get in the gate.

I have been to "The Lodge" or the Prime Minister's residence in our nation's capital. It was not a particularly impressive building but the Prime Minister of the day was there at the time. (I was there with rather a lot of other people, most of whom I did not know. The occasion was not exciting or even very interesting.)

I feel almost certain I could go there now and find the Prime Minister was not there. Our Prime Minister has been given the name "Airbus Albo" - "Airbus" because he always seems to be going somewhere else. 

All Prime Ministers travel of course but it does seem that ours does more travel than most. Apparently he has now made thirty trips since becoming PM and people are asking if they are really necessary. Of course he and his minders will tell us that they are. "It's what we do. We need to network. I need to meet these people. It's how we do business and develop relationships," the current PM will tell us.

No, it isn't. Of course there is a certain amount of networking and development but there is much more to it than that...and I doubt our current PM is doing it. He doesn't have the capacity. He simply is not being taken seriously abroad. The Chinese called him a "handsome boy" but they were not being complimentary. They were suggesting that he would do their bidding...and he has.  That is not the role of the PM.

Our previous PM was heavily criticised for questioning where the Covid19 disaster began.  The Chinese were quick to take umbrage at the mere suggestion that it might have been a leak from a laboratory in China. Their very reaction suggests that, while even they may not be certain, they are concerned they may have been responsible. It was also a good excuse for them to put the brakes on a relationship they were also beginning to feel they could not control. It is much easier to control the present government which leans left rather than right, that is more in tune with their values and thus easier to manipulate. 

Do we need to be concerned by all this? Almost certainly we should be concerned. It is particularly the case when the Chinese navy is responsible for an incident  which harmed divers from our navy inside the territorial zone of yet another country. That could have caused not just serious injury but deaths. 

The "relationship" is not equal. We are the "little kids" in the playground. Our PM is too busy showing off to notice what is going on and "making friends" with the "big kids" instead of helping us learn to look after ourselves.  No, he is not at home. He could hand out many of the roles to his Ministers but he is keeping all the fun to himself.