SMEAR BEYOND BOUNDARIES
FOLLOWING the Sue Gray statement, Mrs May spoke for many decent Conservatives when she said that we had a right to expect our Prime Minister to have read, understood and followed the rules and to have set an example.
Yet ‘Number 10 Downing Street was not observing the regulations they had imposed on members of the public, so either my right honourable friend had not read the rules or didn’t understand what they meant or they didn’t think the rules applied to Number 10.’ It was an excoriating attack.
The Prime Minister’s behaviour over Partygate has been deeply offensive and hurtful and in earlier times alone would be cause for resignation.
But this is not just about parties. It is clear he repeatedly misrepresented what happened and his knowledge of events – both to us and to Parliament. That alone is a resignation matter under our unwritten constitution of custom and decent behaviour.
But Johnson’s whole regime is marked by dishonesty and trickery, and undermining of constitutional good practice, of which this is only another example.
A few days later Johnson attempted to smear Kier Starmer with a pre-prepared lie, against advice, that Starmer ‘spent most of his time prosecuting journalists and failing to prosecute Jimmy Savile’ – an absolutely outrageous completely false smear which is also profoundly hurtful and insensitive to those who suffered though Savile.
The smear went way beyond normal boundaries and was straight out of the Trump playbook. It was not unnoticed that it had been on ultra-right wing, racist and Nazi websites here and in the USA. Many decent Tory MPs were appalled.
This is the behaviour of one who knows no boundaries, no rules, no laws. He and his government have got away with breaking our laws and constitution, breaking international law, and is being challenged through the courts over possible mishandling of public moneys with fast track Covid contracts.
His ministers, when found breaking the ministerial code, are safely pardoned and stay in post. He carries no credibility amongst our allies, and more seriously amongst our enemies.
It would be a great shame on the Conservative Party if its MPs don’t request a vote of confidence and vote against him in such a vote.
Johnson won a landslide in 2019, but that was then, and even then, under our arcane system, 56.4% of those that voted, voted for other parties. His legitimacy is spent. If he had an ounce of decency he would go.
David Powell