Boris’ distraction bid won’t work
Just over a week has passed since Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak created history by becoming the first Prime Minister and Chancellor to be fined for law-breaking while in office.
And while they’ve cynically used their deplorable and inhumane plans to dump refugees in the middle of Rwanda to try and distract attention from his lawbreaking, the majority won’t forget partygate and 50-odd Downing Street staff and ministers who’ve been served fixed penalty notices.
This wasn’t an accidental moment of forgetfulness or being a victim of circumstances.
The PM and his staff were involved in a long list of parties, get-togethers and celebrations throughout the lockdown period, to the extent of having an empty suitcase in Downing Street so a staff member could wheel in piles of booze from the local Co-op undetected.
While people grieved for family and friends they weren’t allowed to say goodbye to, the Prime Minister and his chums were knocking back the booze, having quiz nights, and cutting the birthday boy’s cake.
It is surely one of the most despicable episodes in this government’s existence, and at the end of it we now have a man in office who was forced to accept he has broken the law – and yet still he remains in office.
His supine supporters whine about not changing leader while the war in Ukraine is going on – yet in the middle of both world wars the UK changed Prime Minister and seemed to come out of the other end OK.
Their attempts to protect their boss are feeble, and we can all see that their attempts to distract from the real issues just aren’t working.
People will remember just who was supping sauvignon blanc in the afternoon while the rest of us were forced to stay away from loved ones.
Meanwhile the council elections are just weeks away.
I don’t want to use my column for a party political broadcast – but I do believe it’s crucial that everyone uses their vote on May 5.
Two weeks from now, more than 140,000 people will be eligible to vote across the county, many getting to cast their ballot for the very first time.
But local council elections usually have low turnouts, with Renfrewshire’s last time coming in at 48 per cent.
When you consider the range of services provided by the council, and just how important they are to all of us, it’s hugely disappointing that less of half of us cast a vote for who we want to see shape and drive those services over the next five years, controlling a budget of £466million this year alone.
Whatever your politics, the people elected to fill those roles and spend that budget need to be competent and have a clear vision of what they want for their communities.
I believe the SNP has that clear vision for Renfrewshire, and I’ll be casting my votes 1 and 2 for my SNP candidates. But, regardless of who you support, it’s crucial that we all cast our vote.
The bad old days of single party elected dictatorship – usually by Labour - are thankfully over and, with the Single Transferable Vote system used for local government, no vote is wasted and our councils more accurately reflect the way in which we vote – but only if enough of us use that vote in the first place.
As the current occupant of Number 10 shows, who we choose to take decisions in our name is vitally important. Not voting means someone else making that choice for us.
People will remember just who was supping sauvignon blanc in the afternoon while the rest of us were forced to stay away from loves ones Gavin Newlands