The sleaze within the Tories really does go very deep. As Politico and many others report, Tory deputy chief whip Chris Pincher MP had to resign last night after getting drunk the previous evening and groping two younger men at the Carlton Club - a Tory establishment - in central London.
In itself, so what you might ask? Such things happen. But Chris Pincher has form. He had resigned from the same post before - in 2017 - for the same offence, but kept the Whip.
And when reappointed to the post in February this year by Johnson his inability to behave was known. Supposedly a minder was appointed to stop him from drinking excessively to prevent what happened this week. That clearly did not work. But there again, if it was thought necessary the appointment should never have taken place.
Apparently, it has already been decided that Pincher will keep the Tory whip. He supposedly did 'the right thing' by resigning, albeit only when it was obvious that The Sun had the story. As a result, he is apparently forgiven. There is no question of him resigning, although his offence seems much worse than that of Neil Parrish, who watched porn in parliament. No doubt Johnson does not want a by-election. They do not go too well for him these days.
What to think? First, let's remember there are victims here: two people were assaulted. That should not be forgotten. I wonder how many more have been?
Second, there's no doubt Pincher was set up by Tory MPs who do not like him: politics is always a nasty place and the Tory party is a cesspit of mistrust, dislike and factions now.
Third, Johnson cannot avoid questions on this: he appointed Pincher knowing the risks.
Fourth, this is the fifth Tory scandal in three. months. How many more are there to come?
Fifth, why does politics attract such people? It seems to have a particular appeal to the weak, the predator and the abuser. It is not to its advantage that this is the case. Why can't better vetting be done?
Sixth, why won't the Tries do the right thing? Is it that they have just forgotten what that is now?
Answers to some of these questions may emerge. But what strikes me is that we have a government so akin to that which John Major an in the 90s. He was, of course, far from innocent, having an affair with Edwina Curry whilst prime minister, but compared to Johnson he was a paragon of virtue. His party was not. And what that implies is that this issue is systemic. The Tories are really not to be trusted.
I am not saying others are innocent: Labour has its scandals and a former SNP MP has gone to prison this week for embezzlement. But the Tories do this differently. That Johnson appointed Pincher knowing the issues is evidence of that. They are rotten to the top.
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And there’s also the strange case of that MP who was photographed with what looked like a line of coke. Who went off to rehab. Who is still supposedly doing his job as an MP although he is perhaps still suspended?
My worry is that unlike in Major’s day, these matters are seen as normal and even expected. These days, people’s transgressions are now part of the entertainment sphere online and elsewhere. It’s something to talk about, but not measure a fitness of office. Nothing more?
I really want to be wrong too.
But your underlying point I think – the corrupting power of ‘being in power’ – is spot on of course. Power without consequence has to be put to a stop.
The thing about the Tories is that a lot of them have this arrogant sense of entitlement that makes them think – like Johnson- that good behaviour does not matter and they think they can get away with things that most decent people find repulsive
I am an member of the S.N.P, but they too have had their recent scandals. Never having been there, what is it about Westminster that makes people behave in this manner? While the complaint against the female S.N.P was not proven, she admitted to being so drunk she couldn’t remember what happened. That certainly wasn’t on my mind while tramping around streets delivering leaflets, and knocking on doors, to try to get an S.N.P candidate elected. Do they, as human beings, become corrupted by the system, and believe this behaviour is the norm? Is it the cheap drink? Whatever the cause, in the case of my party, they had better clean up their act, or we will never get to the target we have set.
Throughout British society, there has long been insufficient close examination of the people who are particulary attracted to instutional power; those who are especially effective in using the process to advantage; and why. The scale of the problem we have (at a quite fundamental level) is simply not addressed.
In our institutions we have too many of the wrong people too far up the hierarchy, who are there for the wrong reasons. Everyone is entitled to a vote, and for it to “count” for something; but we are all entitled to expect we build a hierarchy of power that represents in exemplary manner both acute, informed, sharp minds – and values we would be prepared to endorse with complete confidence. I do not believe we can do that, in too many institutions of power.
And all underlined by the BBC when it greets contributors with a “welcome to the show” when they appear on what used to be a news programme.
Has that happened to you, Richard?
Not that I recall
The behaviour of various Tory MPs is obviously OK, let us hope no one makes a noise whilst protesting…….
I suspect that as with the scandals involving aid workers it has something to do firstly with the nature of those attracted to it and secondly being a long way from ‘home’
Having said that I am not aware of either the Welsh or Scottish Parliaments having such issues
It’s interesting that the Private Eye’s story about the ‘real’ reason why there was enough fuss about The Times article to lead them to pull the other week hasn’t received wider coverage in the media. Allegedly (got to get that in), a Tory MP walked in on Johnson and his current wife when they were in a ‘compromising position’ in his office back in 2018. This was reportedly the main reason she wasn’t given the lucrative Foreign Office job he was apparently attempting to wrangle for her. It’s one of these things which is trending on twitter but isn’t mentioned elsewhere in the media but I wonder how long that will be the case? You’d imagine the American media might pick it up, given the story and that might lead to more reporting in the English media.
Private Eye are usually pretty confident about their sources given the many legal battles they have faced over the years, so I don’t doubt the veracity of the story. I don’t really care about it all that much, truth be told. Infidelity isn’t very important in comparison to all the other things Johnson has done, but it isn’t right that No. 10 should be able to spike a story in a national newspaper, especially when the journalist who wrote it is very confident of his sources.
The event was recounted in Ashcroft’s book. See https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=aiZdEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT83 Although that did not include the sordid details of the precise “position” BJ was found in, and it seems to have been left out of the Daily Mail serialisation.
Johnson’s sexual incontinence (not to mention serial betrayal of the people with whom he has the closest relationships) is just another of the factors that makes him so unsuited to the role and one of the worst prime minister we have ever had. The seeming absence of any personal moral or ethical standards makes it almost impossible for him to expect any better from others – we can start with the failure to do anything about the bullying by Priti Patel, follow with the attempt to change the rules to protect Owen Paterson, the actual changes to the ministerial code, and the resignations of two ethics advisers: the reappointment (and second resignation) of Chris Pincher is just the latest in a long line. Loyalty to BJ trumps any peccadillos.
The difficulty appears to be that to get elected one has to be popular (normal, even)
and that secondly, people in power get complacent and cannot shed their bad habits, that it’s a global problem (more out in the open now with social media and cameras everywhere). Once upon a time the morality and ethics (more simple then) appears to have been better inculcated through families and education. There has been the family breakdown.. Now its much more complex, it surprises me that any normal person would stand for election, as one mistake and you’d be finished. Those with pride unwilling to admit their mistake (a habit in upper management too leading to lack of risk-taking when there could be improvements) particularly stand out as foolish. But to be good and fail in any way, people seem ready to attack you. Stand out and get shot at!
So we have to respect their bravery, and yours Richard, too!!
For a better understanding of the phenomenon I recommend the work of Andrzej Lobaczewski. He was a Polish academic who was persecuted for his ideas. He understood that those who rise to power often have psychopathic tendencies, and will tend to surround themselves with similarly disturbed people. He coined the phrase “pathocracy”. Johnson is very likely a psychopath and is certainly a narcissist. His government suffers from a collective disorder and has become grotesquely dysfunctional. The general idea is that people like Johnson are strongly drawn to positions of power. Their characteristic lack of empathy and egomania combined with surface-level charm nearly always prove disastrous. Here’s a link to an article on Lobaczewski:
https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-34/november-2021/problem-pathocracy
Corruption needs corrupt people. The worst nightmare for a corrupt organisation is that people with integrity get near power as they are liable to call out what they see as wrongdoing.
Pincher is the perfect Johnson appointment. So clearly vulnerable that if Johnson asked him to cover up some misdeed he’d do it without question.
I watched a very interesting analysis of corruption in the Russian military which I’d recommend heartily and I was left with the strong impression that we are witnessing the development of a similar epidemic here. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9i47sgi-V4&😉
I do think though that the most likely outcome is a moral backlash. Sleaze, cover-ups and sex scandals clearly don’t serve the interests of the Tory party in the medium or long term.
As to why it’s more common in politics there are two ways people end up corrupt. One is to be immersed in the culture so that you start breaking rules yourself on the grounds that “everyone is doing it.” I suspect this is what happened to Matt Hancock.
The other way is to be born so privileged and entitled that taking things that lesser mortals would feel guilty taking comes naturally. This is where Johnson is. Hence it’s especially a problem in the Tory party as they recruit heavily from this class.
Just watched the video on corruption in the Russian military. Excellent. The VIP lane is the English version.
And by chance I’ve just happened upon this thread, which gives an insider-view of the breeding ground (public schools) for the dysfunctionals who rise up through the ranks in search of power.
https://twitter.com/BehavinAint/status/1542614164824260609?t=q3pLMtH4LpHbgYy1KYVLXw&s=19
Not all lords are like that. Here’s one I like.
https://leftfootforward.org/2022/07/prem-sikka-some-of-the-wealthiest-brits-are-calling-for-socialist-policies/
Admirable! There are some good guys after all. Thanks for the link.
Whenever the Tories are exposed in this way you can always be sure that their PR/Media friends will be struggling mightily to turn it to their advantage, in this case turning it into an attack on Democracy by claiming “they are all the same”.
In fact as America’s leading Scandal sheet, the National Enquirer, demonstrated the exposure of the wrong doings of Right Wing politicians and the wrong doings of Centre/Left politicians is a form of Asymmetric warfare.
In Trump’s case instead of exposing his paying for sex it actually bought up the stories so that they never saw the light of day.
Therese Coffey MP, Conservative minister on Sky has said about the latest Downing Street debacle: “I think the prime minister made the choice he thought was best for the interests of the government in order to help get government business through.”
And there is your problem. If you are searching for an explanation of the mess we are in; the PM, Ministerial spokesmen/women chosen for their blind loyalty above all, and a cohort of invertabrate back-benchers willing to vote for the unacceptable – over and over and over again – provide the condemnation of this abominable admission, in capital letters; notably, even if you actually believe it.
We cannot go on like this.
“invertebrate”.
…. I am beginning to think my fingers are invertebrate.