‘Britain will not accept 12 weeks of Tory navel-gazing’
JOHNSON IS STILL THE BEST MAN TO TACKLE COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS AND UKRAINE, SAYS MP
WHAT we had on Monday (6) was a result of which showed confidence in the prime minister to continue in his job.
And I very much hope that it will now draw a line so that we can move on to deal with so many other important issues that are affecting my constituents and the people of Britain.
We have, for example, on the domestic front, issues as regards the rising cost of living, rising energy prices. People are genuinely worried about putting food on their table. These are serious issues that we need to be giving attention to.
And on the international front, we have Europe that at its most dangerous since the Second World War. We need to be paying attention to make sure that we can curb Russia’s aggression, which currently is targeted at Ukraine. But we don’t know where this could end.
We’ve had extraordinarily difficult circumstances. What we’ve gone through recently, is probably the most difficult period that any peacetime prime minister has had to deal with, since the Second World War.
As far as I’m concerned, I think that we need to recognise the result from the ballot, which endorsed the prime minister to continue in his role.
I would also make the point that this is an issue that has gone on for far too long. And what is important to remember is that the Conservative party leadership contest now will take at least something like 12 weeks. And I don’t think the British public would be sympathetic to the Conservative party navel-gazing for 12 weeks, while we have a big parade of various candidates, going to the media, and talking to fellow conservatives seeking their support and vote at a time when there are so many serious, urgent and important issues that need the attention of the government.
The last thing the Conservative party now needs is a period of three months of self-indulgence. I think it would just be something that the general public would not accept. I’m getting lots of constituents writing to me, yet only some are writing to me about this particular issue.
But many more are writing to me about issues that concern them on a very practical day-to-day issue. Where’s their bread coming for the next meal? How are they going to deal with the rising cost of living? How are they going to deal with rising energy prices?
I do not, in any way, diminish the importance of the issues that have been discussed, as a lot of people suffered hugely during the pandemic. They were unable to see loved ones, they were unable to attend funerals. Millions of people throughout the pandemic suffered in many ways. I don’t diminish that. What I do say is the prime minister has apologised. Reforms that were suggested by Sue Gray’s report, the prime minister has put them in place 100 per cent.
I think what you need to do is consider the past two or three years as a whole. And while I don’t diminish the importance of the issues concerning the gatherings in Downing Street, we need to also remember the prime minister has made the right call on so many other issues.
He delivered Brexit, which had been a difficulty for so many former prime ministers, and an issue for the country for decades. During the pandemic, he ensured that Britain had one of the fastest vaccine rollouts in the world, and that had a definite positive impact on the health of people in our country. He ensured there was over £400 billion made available to individuals and small and large businesses, so we could ensure our economy was in a good place to be able to recover post-pandemic, which it is.
In terms of Ukraine, he has been the European voice in trying to deal with the aggression from Russia. It was Boris Johnson’s decision to ensure that we provided military equipment to Ukraine. The European Union then followed our example. It was Boris Johnson who led the humanitarian assistance and effort, as far as the UK was concerned, and the EU then followed us. Indeed, the US followed and they have given a lot more than we have, given the size of their country. But they followed what the UK prime minister was doing. And given that Europe is at its most dangerous stage now, since the Second World War, it is right that we have a strong leader in place to deal with this threat on our borders. And I believe Boris Johnson is that right person. As I say, if you look at his record over the past two or three years, he has made the right call on a number of big issues.
But that doesn’t in any way not recognise that he could have handled things a lot better, as far as the gatherings is concerned. I believe that he has apologised and apologised very sincerely. When he said he was not aware of some of the things happening, I believe him.
Downing Street is not a two-up, twodown there, while you’ve got number 9, 10, 11 and number 12 Downing Street. It isn’t just an ordinary street with two uptown houses behind the front. It’s actually an office block, which has five floors and hundreds of employees working in them, and the prime minister and the chancellor. It is possible for the prime minister to be in one part and not know what’s happening in another part. But to the extent that this could have been handled much better, of course it could have been handled better.
There have been mistakes, serious mistakes. But I think that if you consider the overall picture, if you consider the overall context, then you need to factor in all the other important decisions that have been taken, on which he’s made the right call. And that’s why I think he should continue. And I think this an important point. I do not believe that at this critical time in the UK’s history, when we are facing such a serious threat in Europe in terms of Russian aggression, and there are so many issues concerning the UK domestically, I do not believe at this time, we should have a 12-week period where we have a leadership contest and the Tory party’s attention is on the new leader, rather than dealing
with the very serious issues concerning Britain, both domestic and internationally.