November 9th 2021.
The latest example of the Plod State Police (Plodstapo) has just come to light in the UK. A retired man, terminally ill and a wheelchair and Zimmer frame user, was arrested by 6 police officers who jumped on him, forcing him to the ground before handcuffing him. His crime? He dropped his trousers and mooned a traffic speed camera as part of his bucket list. It was his revenge for having been caught twice by the camera. In comparison, the police mollycoddle the demonstrators who closed the M25 motorway. The Plodstapo have well and truly arrived.
But back to the main story. Boris Johnson is toast. It may not be this week, it may not be this month, but he is on his way out.
Last week, Owen Paterson resigned as a Conservative MP after a row over his conduct led to a government U-turn. The Conservative was found to have broken lobbying rules and was facing suspension – until Tory MPs blocked it by calling for an overhaul of the MPs’ standards watchdog instead. No 10 instigated a three-line whip and used threats of lowering funding to dissenting MPs’ constituencies if they voted against the bill exonerating Paterson.
They initially had the backing of No 10, but Downing Street reversed its decision after a furious backlash. The MPs didn’t appreciate having their arms twisted and then made to look fools when the decision was reversed the next day. The new MPs from the North’s previous Labour seats found their prospects of holding their seats diminishing and they have started to voice anti-Johnson opinions in private meetings.
As a result, the speaker became involved and granted an emergency debate on the subject. Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle warned the debate would be “painful”.
However, he said it was important for Parliament to “cleanse” adding: “What I don’t want is another dark week like last week.”
The emergency debate, which began at 16.00 GMT on Monday, was granted after a request by the Liberal Democrats, who are calling for an independent inquiry into “Tory sleaze”.
The prime minister said that he wouldn’t be attending as he had a prior engagement visiting hospitals in Newcastle and gave his apologies for his absence to the speaker.
During the debate, Johnson was called a coward and arrogant by the opposition MPs.
It transpired that Johnson arrived back in London from Newcastle at 16.10, and as the debate continued until past 19.00 he had more than enough time to turn up at the debate. This has not gone unnoticed, especially by the speaker.
There are rumblings of dissent from within the Conservatives and the allies of Liz Truss, Foreign Secretary, and Rishi Sunak, Chancellor, are gathering support for a leadership challenge. As I said, if not today then it will happen when the internal opponents have marshalled their resources.
Johnson has spent all his political capital in his defence of the indefensible with his disregard of the sleaze infesting his government. There is definitely a whiff of decay about the government now. More and more revelations are coming into the open with the allocation of non-tendered contracts to “friends” of cabinet ministers.
Just to put the icing on the cake the latest Mori Poll published yesterday puts support for the Conservatives at 35% and Labour up to 36%. Alarmingly, the Greens have shot up to 11%.
This poll was undertaken before the sleaze scandal and the next poll will undoubtedly show support for the Conservatives and Johnson slipping.
The Conservatives are sharpening the knives and Johnson’s cavalier attitude to morals and integrity is beginning to hit the Conservatives in their support. The Conservatives, and especially the new MPs, will not allow this situation to continue. The stench emanating from Johnson and No 10 gets stronger by the day.
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