Newlands: Johnson at rotten score of scandal
A Renfrewshire MP has slammed Tory sleaze following the latest corruption scandal and has called for a “complete overhaul” of Westminster’s “broken” system.
Gavin Newlands says that nothing short of the radical move can fix the mess the UK Government and parliamentary officials have become embroiled in.
The Paisley and Renfrewshire North politician insists issues have to be addressed from the very top after the second jobs controversy - sparked by the news that former Attorney General, MP Geoffrey Cox, was working in the tax-haven British Virgin Islands while supposedly representing the people of his Torridge and West Devon constituency - engulfed Boris Johnson’s government.
The SNP’s Mr Newlands said:“The Tory corruption scandal cannot be blamed away on a few rotten apples, or fixed with half-hearted apologies, when sleaze and cronyism are endemic at Westminster and the problem leads all the way to the very top.
“It’s clear that corruption and malfeasance run throughout a Westminster system that positively encourages jobs for the boys and dodgy donations.
“We have a House of Lords packed full of cronies, whose ‘qualification’ seems to be having the Tory party’s deposit account details.”
He added: “We need rid of the lot – abolish the House of Lords, ban cash for honours, curb second jobs and make sure the rules are tightened to come down like a ton of bricks on the worst offenders.
“A fish rots from the head down, and Boris Johnson is at the rotten core of a sleaze scandal that has engulfed Westminster - with dozens of Tory MPs implicated.
“People are horrified at what is going on at Westminster and think ‘they’re all at it’.
“The only way for the Tories to save any last scraps of credibility is to accept fundamental change.”