THE facts are there. We all saw it. Boris Johnson lied to parliament. That’s indisputable. We are told the “rules” are clear. A prime minister who “intentionally” lies to the Commons must go.
But he has not gone. Why? It seems although we all saw him do it, a Commons committee will decide if our senses deceived us, and it didn’t really happen. In short, a group of MPs with a Tory majority will debate and consider if what millions saw, didn’t actually occur.
This is the behaviour of the mad house. We are now well down the rabbit hole. I wonder, do folks abroad see this is another version of the British sense of humour, like Monty Python? And look forward to the Ministry of Silly Walks again?
Just think how this all looks to people outside this septic isle. A group of MPs, who were presumably in the Commons on the many occasions Johnson lied openly and unashamedly, will now ponder what they saw and heard. They may well end up telling the rest of us that what we saw did not happen, and Johnson has no case to answer.
This is nuts. How can anyone come to any other view than guilty? If there is a rule and that rule is breached, the consequences ought to be clear, and the penalties enforced. In any well-ordered democracy this would be the case. The “rules” would be written down and firmly enforced. The law would be unequivocal and there would be no need for committees to consider anything. Break the law and you go down. Full stop.
Even right-wing commentators are sickened by this behaviour. In the Times Iain Martin claims: “Britain does not have a functioning government”.
The reaction of Tory MPs to these outrages seems to depend on who got which message from Downing Street. Some say: “Boris knew nothing about what his staff were doing and didn’t realise it was against the rules.”
While others declaim: “Only Boris has the leadership to see us through the present crises.”
Reading this, you might think that all progressive forces would combine to rid the land of this pestilential government and its Tory backers. As my guest, Anthony Barnett,
co-founder of Open Democracy said on the TNT show this week.
Anthony called for all the progressive forces in UK politics including Labour, the Greens, the SNP and the LibDems to agree a way forward that gets the Tories out, and keeps them out. That way we could put a stop to the madness and start to undo the evils enacted by this Government.
You may think that, but you’d be very wrong. At local level, Labour has rushed to bond with Tories across the nation.
Meanwhile at Westminster, Starmer continues to paint the Tory government as the devil incarnate. No wonder voters are confused with all these mixed messages.
Worse, by jumping into bed with Tories across Scotland, Labour aligns itself with the worst while placing its members in a bind. What is an ordinary Labour member to make of this folly; does Labour distrust the Tories, or are they happy to go along with them, even when offered an alternative?
All that said, we need to be clear. Boris did not invent a system that he could exploit. That was done for him, he merely manipulated its many failings.
The greatest of these is the absence of a written codified constitution. He also recognised that in its absence, the Government runs things as they wish.
As noted in past columns, the British constitution is whatever the government of the day, with a working majority, says it is.
Take note, this means even if the Commons committee decides against him, he can merely pass a new rule to disregard, or alter, its findings. Or his government could suspend the Committee, perhaps as part of a review of the working of all Commons committees. Unlikely? Not for a man who lied to the head of state and to the people in plain view, and who has no scruples. For him, everything is about his survival. As Billy Connolly puts it: “Anyone who believes Boris Johnson needs treatment”.
Let’s be very plain, the reason we are stuck with an inveterate liar is because we are unprotected. One of the reasons that written constitutions exist in most civilised countries is to check politicians. To remind them that the people are in charge. That they may not behave as they wish. And that the power of the state is not available to them if they attempt to breach the constitution.
Join us on the TNT show on Wednesday at 7pm with guests, Carole and Alison from Yes Highland
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