Boris Johnson lost one ethics adviser over Priti Patel's bullying. Finding another was hard. It was not the most alluring proposition for anyone who knew much about what the job might entail, but then up stepped Lord Geidt.
Now he has been made to look a fool by Johnson, with the Electoral Commissi0n finding that Johns0on lied to Geidt about his knowledge of the payments from third parties to redecorate the Downing Street flat. The consequence is this front cover of the Telegraph:
Losing a second ethics adviser would really not look good, even if it would only prove what we all already know, which is that Johnson is entirely devoid of any ethical concern.
I lived through the corruption of the Tory Party in the 1990s. I thought they would have learned the lesson. But Johnson then became an MP in 2001. It was clear that they had not learned. His track record of deceit was already known by then and became very apparent to the Tory leadership soon thereafter.
There are two conclusions to reach, although neither is in any sense revelatory. They are that Johnson is corrupt, as is much of the Tory Party in its pursuit of power at all costs.
Some of us still hope for better.
The fact is that most people in this country deserve better.
And the reality is that unless we get better then I strongly suspect that Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales (probably in that order) will all leave this sinking ship.
I believe that most people are decent. Even some Tories undoubtedly are. And that is why I also believe that there will be a backlash against this corruption now. All I cannot predict is the form that backlash will take, as yet.
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Scotland being the first to leave the UK seems very unlikely, unless some big changes happen politically within Scotland. Northern Ireland is clearly getting ready to do so in the foreseeable future. Support for independence in Wales is rising and at around 30%, it could spike as it did in Scotland in the runup to a referendum. They do seem to have good politicians, so who knows if or when it could happen there.
Scotland, despite having a high level of support for independence, is hamstrung by an SNP party that is, under Sturgeon, at best a so called ‘gradualist’ party (or simply one that really just wants more devolution within the UK), vs the ‘fundamentlist’ nature of Salmond’s SNP, whose primary goal was independence sooner than later. Importantly, Sturgeon has also changed the structure of the SNP so that centralisation of control and decision making moved away from members to a small group around Sturgeon (see link). Her lack of genuine actions since 2015 point to a very uncertain likelihood of Scotland pushing for independence as long as Sturgeon is in control or the SNP party remains as it is now. People are leaving the SNP, so clearly there is a serious split within the party. How the current leadership respond to the recent overwhelming vote at the SNP Conference on creating a Scottish currency (481/37) once independent, may be a good indicator of how serious the Sturgeon led SNP are on independence and how democratic they really are now. If the currency vote is overruled, as far as independence is concerned, Sturgeon’s SNP will unequivocally be a dead end.
While the Tories may be self destructing again, the SNP are also in a mess and they could also self destruct as more time passes and more SNP ‘promises’ on independence simply don’t happen. So as things currently stand, it seems likely that Northern Ireland rejoining Ireland will be the event that acts as a push for both Scotland and Wales to also leave the UK. It also seems likely that it will be the greed/incompetence of the UK government that will be one of, and maybe the biggest factor in determining the timescales of independence for each of them.
http://robinmcalpine.org/how-democracy-was-stripped-from-the-snp/
Either it is a deliberate tactic, or Johnson just can’t help himself.
He was sacked as a trainee at The TImes in 1987, for making up a sexy quote by his godfather (who was an Oxford history don) to add some spice to a story about an archaeological discovery in London. It wasn’t just that he made up the quote (which included an enormous error) but he doubled and tripled down on it. When the person complained to the newspaper, at first the paper told him that the reporter (Johnson) stood by the story. And then when hauled up before the editor, Johnson e insisted that most of the quotes in the paper were made up anyway so what is the problem. (Few Times trainees are sacked for misconduct: another around this time was Toby Young.)
Similarly, Johnson was sacked for lying to Michael Howard about his extramarital affair, rather than admitting it. And when caught out in the lie, he insisted that he was entitled to lie about his private life.
Johnson lies, and lies to cover up the lies, and just does not care. It is corrosive, and the sooner the Conservatives – and others caught up in this, such as Lord Geidt – realise it tarnishes them all, the better.
Sorry, need to correct the date – Johnson became a trainee in 1987 and was sacked the following year, 1988. Howard sacked him in 2004. And here we are another 17 years later. Lie, lie, lie, sack, sack, sack?
‘There are two conclusions to reach, although neither is in any sense revelatory. They are that Johnson is corrupt, as is much of the Tory Party in its pursuit of power at all costs.’
You’ve summed it up perfectly here.
BREXIT, Covid, global warming (‘climate change’ my arse) and the lasting effects of the 2008 crash will just make them dig in deeper for sure. We may not believe it but this is what ‘The Establishment Government’ looks like with its back up against the wall, refusing to believe that the party’s all over.
And it is.
It’s like being in the last days of the Roman Empire.
I was watching a documentary last night about the formation of glacial lakes in the Karakorum region of Nepal made in 2003 – the year our daughter was born. These lakes are formed by melting glaciers due to higher temperatures in the region via global warming. They hold millions of tons of water and sometimes with a combination of weakening of the surrounding ice and sheer weight being held, the surrounding earth just gives way and the whole lot just empties into the valley below causing death and destruction below.
Where does it end up?
Well the rivers and then the seas of course. It’s not just the ice caps in the polar regions that are melting. That’s the REAL message. Those high glaciers (like the one on K2 infamous for killing people) are now becoming quite unstable. One of the Oxford scientists interviewed say that if you’ve got children you really need to think about the implications of this!
And then there was the report by CH4 news the other night on how the advertising about the recent COP summit was deliberately toned down so as not to cause ‘alarm’.
All of this has come about because of Neo-liberal interference in democracy which has been used to enable short term business thinking to inculcate Government policy to the detriment of humanity.
And in my view they will not stop. Those made rich by short-termism don’t want to lose anything, and for that, we it seems must be made lose everything – social security, health care, employment rights, the right to life – its our fault wanting these things, not their greed and an unwillingness to share. They just shift the blame away from themselves.
And politicians do the same – they back a side in a conflict for example that has no oil and upsets the side that does and just happens to be our major supplier, and then when the price of oil goes up and causes inflation, it’s our decent wages and working rights and social security systems that are blamed, not the politicians own poor judgement.
All Johnson has done is reify that the whole system is actually corrupt. Major, Blair, Cameron & May all provided a veneer of respectability in their post for this corrupt system that is killing us and preserving THEM.
Johnson – more honestly – has no such pretensions (as do many of them – Rees-Mogg, Francois, Brigden, Baker, Osbourne etc.,) – they’re clearly there for all they can get for themselves and make no secret of it. Their rule is ‘everyman for himself’ – grab what you can. Randian – pure and simple.
This is Margaret Hilda Thatcher’s legacy – and before that – the Mont Pelerin Society’s achievement as directed by the Volker Fund. You can track it back to von Hayek, Friedman etc., – all reactionaries formed by watching Nazi Germany rise and fears about State power – craftily utilised by private sector monopolists who are quite happy see the the public sector version of a monopoly – authoritarian dictatorship – in existence instead and are happy to enable it and support it.
And this is why we’ve made no progress since 2003 in my view. I’ve grown up knowing the air travel pollutes the atmosphere yet I’ve seen an explosion in air travel in my 56 years on the Earth.
How can that be?
See above.
Enough said there.
So what next? How long are we going to tolerate these extinguishers of life itself?
Thanks PSR
I was speaking with a friend who reads the blog yesterday and they said “I love Pilgrim’s comments”.
I thought I should tell you.
Well, that’s something.
Anyway, I have an excellent editor keeping me in line if I go too far – which to my shame, I have occasion to do.