You might want to take a look at this on Open Democracy, by me this afternoon:
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A point well made, but I would propose two counter-arguments. First, it is unacceptable that Johnson remain in office on the sole basis that his threadbare defence passes some test no member of the public could undestand, still less apply to anything in life. What is driving him out of office is not the will of the Conservative Party itself, but the Party’s fear of the strength of feeling among its own voters; a strength of feeling produced by the suffering of too many people through the pandemic, following the rules for the common good in a pandemic, only to find that the writer of the rules does not believe it applies to him, or his close advisors. This is so fundamental, nobody should survive such a catastrophic failure of leadership. If he is not driven from office, then the question is; how bad must it be, what would he have to do, or fail to do before he is ousted? Anythin? The thought that people could not hold the hand of a dying relative, for the sake of the common good, but it is acceptable that Downing Street runs boozy parties because somehow it isn’t sufficiently important politically; it isn’t business and trade, its just a ‘party’; chills my blood.
Second, you are right. The problem is not Boris Johnson; it is much deeper than that. It is the Conservative Party, but it has been busy exhibiting its real nature to the public. It will have to choose a new leader from an unprepossessing ragbag of totally uncharismatic politicians It is a risk, but one definitely worth taking. If the British electorate are prepared to embrace all that – then (as I have long suspected), there is absolutely nothing to be done with Britain; which is why I confess I am relieved that Scotland has the ‘lifeboat’ option.
Scotland needs that option
Unfortunately the lifeboat has no engine, the crew have lost the oars, and the rudder is permanently stuck to go in circles.
I agree with John on both points he makes. Given Johnson’s appalling behaviour, including the latest revelations from William Wragg, it cannot be acceptable for such an appalling character to remain as PM. A point I will shortly be making for the second time to my (tory) MP. And, on a personal level, I make no apologies for my own loathing of Johnson and everything he stands for, i.e. all the worst characteristics of England.
Given the suffering he has caused and the damage to this country, and his own total lack of remorse or willingness to accept responsibility as a proper leader would, if there is any justice in this world at all, he must go.
Let’s face it, Johnson should never have been an MP, let alonePM.
But, as we know, the problem goes far further than Johnson; it is the tory party itself that is a cancer at the heart of the UK, a cancer that is destroying the UK and it’s institutions. I agree with your central point about the right wing extremists controlling it, and also that the next leader will be no better, as I’ve already observed here.
Unless their grip on power is broken by an organised ABC coalition of progressive parties, I can’t see the UK continuing. The Scots won’t stand for eternal extreme right tory government, and, increasingly, neither will the Welsh. And I can’t say I blame them.
So the question then is where does that leave those of us here who live in England? I’m trying my bit via membership of and donations to organisations like Compass, We Own It, the GLP ,and so on, but I have limited faith that Labour will abandon it’s factionalism and tribalism to lead a progressive ABC alliance. For instance, a Corbyn supporting friend of mine seems to spend as much time attacking Starmer as he does Johnson; in fact he seems to think they’re as bad as each other.
There are valid criticisms to be made of Starmer, several have been made by you Richard. But, FFS, to equate Starmer with Johnson…crazy! And no fellow left wingers, I won’t sign some pointless petition against Tony Blair’s knighthood. Let go of the past, and tackle the current dire situation, for God’s sake.
Boris has made a total arse of himself during this, and he’s drawn attention to himself which is quite corrosive as when people start to question his character, like ink on blotting paper, they start ask questions more widely – his motives, intent, results and then you are on the road to a dénouement of what the Tories have actually been up to since 2010. Game over. That’s why the Tories are angry.
Ideally, what the Tories want now is a safe pair of hands – someone less arrogant and more savvy on these matters – absolutely rock solid on presentation, a really good front for their mendacity.
‘Trouble is I cannot think of anyone really and that is the problem. I think that they are stuck with Johnson. I watched Rees-Mogg tonight on C4 New (come back John Snow, come back!!) and although I can say that the man repulses me, he’s a very assured operator and I think a pro-Boris faction will try to ride it all out to be honest.
I don’t really like Andrew Brigden as a BREXITEER either but he does actually believe in things and when he said they were close to 1922 Committee core of letters I took him seriously as a man who had some standards.
Maybe that is where the threat lies now for the Tories – The Boris Question might split them.
But also, for all we know this is just how they are playing it – just going through the motions of pain and anger, and decisions , shall we/shan’t we but with actually no intention of changing anything? It’s all just for show?
I would not put it past any of them. They’ve achieved so much if you think about it – just look at the state of the country and the people. There mission is nearly complete.
And so does England.
After all the government was elected on a Conservative minority vote – it is the voting system that needs changing first and foremost.
How do you reconcile this stance with this one you took 9 days ago?
For the greater good, Johnson has to go now
He does have to go, of course. He is a laughing stock and we cannot have such a person as PM
What I am saying is that in policy terms nothing will change
Was it really that hard to work that out?
The internet is the place where you’re most likely to encounter people who’ll misconstrue what you say. Occasionally, some of them will astound you.
Supposedly, 120 wealthy individuals think that they should pay higher taxes. This all I know of this group and have seen no commentary. Is this some sort of fantasy dreamt up by some commentator?
Of course they owe more tax
But they get the reasons why wrong
They owe the tax because they are rich and not because we need their money
So I did not comment on it
The Conservative MP William Wragg, an influential figure as Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) has launched a devastating attack on the Conservative Government, explicating why hesitation over removing Johnson may have stayed some MPs hands, by publicly discussing what is alleged has been going on beyond the floor of the House of Coomons, where the black arts of the Whips are used, including “intimidation”: “,,,, the reports of which I’m aware would seem to constitute blackmail. As such it would be my general advice to colleagues to report these matters to the Speaker of the House of Commons and the commissioner of the Metropolitan police. And they are also welcome to contact me at any time.” (Guardian, 20th January).
This tends to reinforce the view that the problem is deeper than Johnson; it engulfs the culture of the Government and the Conservative Party. Indeed, it is deeper still. It confirms my fiew that the real problem at the heart of our politics is the Party system itself. The Party system is essentaiily factional and tribal. It emerged in Parliament from feudalism, passed througha ‘class’ phase, and is now purely ideological; which makes it a form of malleable putty, to make it easily manipulatable by any dangerous force that captures the Party. Political Party in essence echoes Lord Acton’s dictum; Party is inevitably corrupted by power.
I listened to two senior members of the ‘Fleet Street’ press today, on BBC Scotland News talking with sophisticated understanding of how everyone knows the Whips have their ‘black books’ and huge pressure is placed on recalcitrant MPs. There was no outrage, rather they were keen to assure us that they have an urbane understanding of how the system has worked from time immemorial; at least that is what I took from it. It tells you a little about just how the low standards of a press that is suppoes to interrogate politics in our interest. But in fact the reality is, there is a revoloving door between politics and press; indeed as I understand it one of the infamous Downing street parties was to celebrate the move of a comunications adviser to Johnson into a senior editor job at the Sun. The British people are being played, for fools. It has been going on for a long, long time, but like all corruption, it becomes filled with hubris, and self-indulgent carelessness, and is finally handed to clowns who give the game away. I rest my case.
Ed Davey MP, leader of the Lib Dems has described Johnson in the same Guardian article as “acting more like a mafia boss than a prime minister.” We have a cancer in the heart of our politics. You can fight it, or succumb to it; or, if Scotland is wise: leave.
Yet another Press journalist on BBC Radio Scotland News, now saying he isn’t “surprised” about the Wragg statement, but one man’s initimidation is another man’s Whip being perfectly reasonable. Really? This is journalism? When a Conservatve Chair of a Select Committee (an experienced politican) raises it, about his own Party it is time to pause. It is time to question whether a Whip’s operation is acceptable. Either there is or isn’t intimidation; this is a matter of law and fact. It isn’t a matter of different opinions, and counting the majority opnion. It is a matter requiring independent investigation by the appropriate authority; and that is not the Civil Service. Indeed, if it proves to be intimidation and the journalists are not surprised, why have they never made anying of the outrage before? Are we to assume that a long history of it somehow allows journals to anaesthetise themselves from reprting it? it has been going for as long as there were political parties, what does that tell us about our political system, and our journalism? This mess seems to have no end to the implications.
The problem here is that the Press are too close to the politicians, and I take no comfort whtsoever from their casually urbane lack of surprise. I have listened to political media journalists on this whole farrago, each day tell us that it is bad for the PM, but not yet bad enough. But if anything else comes it it will probably finish him. Nex day, something worse comes out; and the media say; this is bad, but not yet bad enough. But if anything else comes it it will probably finish him. Next day, something worse comes out; and the media say; this is bad, but not yet bad enough. Next day, something worse comes out; and the media say; this is bad, but not yet bad enough. Next day, …..
Do these journalists ever take any stand at all, over anything; other than remind us all how really, really easy it is for a British PM to survive anything at all? Journalists are happy to bounce round the world pointing fingers at every regime known to man – including Trump’s USA, for all their indiscretions, and far worse. Back home, they shuffle their feet, and kick the can down the road. Political journalism in Britain is a circus act performed, as far as I can see on a circular conveyor belt between Downing Street and Fleet Street, providing the opportunity for a bunch of ex-SPADS to issue Downing Street propaganda under the pretext of independent ‘journalism’.
“It tells you a little about just how the low standards are, of a press that is supposed to interrogate politics in our interest.”
What a mess I made of that draft; I trust readers can read through the other bloopers.
We are stuck with a Tory government until a general election, barring the unlikely even of another 40 odd of them defecting. To be honest it doesn’t much matter which of them is at the helm. I’m hoping BoJo hangs on until the men in grey suits drag his screaming and kicking away.The more damage he does to the Tory party, the better for the long term benefit of the rest of us.
When Johnson is gone, the fog of Covid has lifted and the failings of Brexit are fully exposed, the remaining Tories will mix denial with lame attempts at shifting the blame onto Boris (and Europe).