No.200 - 'I’ve Been Away! Did you Miss me?
Dear James,
I’ve been away. Did you miss me? Of course not! You’ve been far too busy trying to put the best face on the worst government we have had in living memory. Having needed a bit of R&R, I'm now back in the saddle and joined today by none other than, one, Dominic Cummings. August company indeed! While Dominic has been seething, gathering his gunpowder, sharpening his pencil and waiting for his chance, I have been quietly watching from the sidelines as revelations of government sleaze have continued to seep to the surface like black oil staining unsullied desert sands. Month after month, week after week, day after day, the stench of rotten politics at the top is unmistakable
It should never have been like this. Boris has always had a credibility problem and the new £2.6m Downing Street Communication hub was designed to protect him from outrageous press criticism. Allegra Stratton was going to absorb and deflect the pesky press just like Sarah Huckabee Sanders protected President Trump as White House Press Secretary in 2017-19. But Ms Stratton has just been told that she has not got the job but been given the consolation prize of Cop26 spokeswoman. Boris has ducked it again. He realises that US style press briefings would be far too dangerous for his crazy communication style. With his gaffes and bluster, the press would have a field day – every day - and that is the last thing that Boris needs. So instead we will all have to continue to rely on Messrs Hancock, Eustace, Jenrick and Kwarteng, those with that old school suavity that can turn shit into pure gold just by the tone of their voices.
All that remains of the new Communication hub is a couple of wooden flags that stand like crutches supporting our blond mopped PM as he desperately pretends gravitas and that other irksome quality required of our leaders, ‘responsibility’. But check out those flags. The only bit that really shows is the red cross of St. George. The blue of the Scottish saltire is not to be seen nor is there any whiff of the Welsh Dragon, let alone the Northern Irish ‘dexter hand’. The message is clear. This is the flag of unrepentant English nationalism. The English are in charge. The rest had better knuckle down. From the autumn the Union Jack has been ordered to fly on all government buildings. So sad when you have to order people to wave the flag! What better way to reveal your weakness! I am afraid your whole strategy James, is a strategy of fear. Fear of ‘losing your past’. A ‘Little England’ mentality wrapped in ‘Global Britain’ bluster.
Boris ‘makes no apology for shifting heaven and earth’ when accused of fast tracking friends and cronies in giving out contracts. But if you break the rules of heaven and earth, aren’t you just doing what Hitler did when he cited the Reichstag fire for suspending the German constitution? Two years ago Boris prorogued parliament illegally. Last year he broke the Tory promise never to put a border in the Irish Sea. He has always been loose with rules and regulations as if they never applied to the public schoolboy born to rule. The old school tie has never gone away. Who you know is more important than what you know. The ‘Don’t Worry old boy’, ‘I’ll fix it tomo’ syndrome tells us all we need to know James. The current lobbying system makes a mockery of our democracy.
Two days ago, the former veterans’ minister, Johnny Mercer, showed that there was one person in your government with principles. He resigned – yes, resigned - because your government has not implemented a pledge to end “vexatious historical investigations” of Northern Ireland veterans. He described your government as a “cesspit” and “the most distrustful, awful environment I’ve ever worked in”. Praise indeed from one of your own?
It’s your so-called ‘war on woke’ that sums it up.'Wokeism is the new fascism' claims the ridiculous Piers Morgan adding that democracy is under threat from 'cancel culture' unless society stands up to the 'illiberal mob'. Your very own Oliver Dowden says that ‘wokeism’ is part of a wider effort to “do Britain down”. In reality, ‘wokeism‘ is a word invented by the extreme right to ridicule those qualities of decency, fairness and kindness - expressed in government policy - that became the watchword for UK politics around the world, after the war. ‘Wokeism’ mistranslates these qualities as weakness, betrayal and surrender. It is the schoolyard bully trying to shout down the very best of our nation while keeping the privileged few in the state to which they have become accustomed. And it is oiled by graft. Today, Dominic Cummings lashed out at his old boss. He said Boris had behaved in a “mad and totally unethical” way while planning to upgrade his flat in Downing Street. “It is sad to see the PM and his office fall so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves,” he wrote. The rats are truly fighting in the sack!
James, Boris Johnson has broken promises, trashed pledges, betrayed friends, U-turned more promiscuously than a prima ballerina on steroids. Another Dominic, this time, Grieve, said today that Boris is ‘a vacuum of integrity’. Need I say any more?
There is no honour amongst thieves. Let alone among current Tory politicians. But let’s not forget where responsibility for this lies. The fish rots from the head!
So good to be back James! More to follow!
Kind Regards,
BH – Your Concerned Constituent