The government is on life support – will someone put it out of its misery?

As this zombie administration shambles along, its only two aims seem to be to cling on to power and make headlines, writes Alan Rusbridger

Lee Anderson was suspended from the Conservative Party over comments he made about London mayor Sadiq Khan (PA Wire)

What’s the right metaphor for British politics at the moment? Perhaps we could think of it as a stagnant pond – a layer of indeterminate slimy green vegetation spreading across the surface, as a distinctive foul odour drifts up from the decomposing organic matter below. Nothing stirs.

Or a body on life support? The brain stem has long since stopped sending or receiving signals. Relatives gather around the bedside to debate the ethical ramifications of ending, or maintaining, the permanent vegetative state.

Dead man walking? An execution date has yet to be set, but the victim knows they’ve run out of appeals. They continue to eat, to do desultory morning push-ups and to shuffle round the exercise yard. Only in this version there is no local nun to offer uplifting spiritual guidance.