No.76 - Poor Old Boris!

Dear James,

It came out of the blue yesterday morning. The Supreme Court announced its unanimous verdict. Boris has misled the Queen. The Prorogation of Parliament was ‘null, void and of no effect’. Yesterday afternoon the heavens opened over Parliament Square. The sky went black, thunder rolled and the rain came down, pouring out of gutters and drains, flooding the streets and drowning out the television journalists on Parliament Green. It was a suitable metaphor for the state of the party to which you have nailed your colours James. It was the awful sound of the tumbril announcing the approach of a ditch of your leader’s choice.

On that historic morning, Baroness Hale, President of the Supreme Court, ruled that, in fact, parliament has not been prorogued at all. Today parliament reconvenes and Boris will have to answer some pretty fierce questioning from his ‘parliamentary friends and colleagues’. As you will too James. As a supporter of this government you are an accessory after the fact. You as my MP have propped up a government that has acted illegally and against our constitution. Oh dear, what a terrible mess your party has made of our nation James. Mr Cummings told Boris to go for broke and to do this he has had literally to break the law. And he has taken you with him. Shame on you!

While still in New York yesterday, your leader continued to speak in contradictory terms. He says that he respects the judiciary although he disagrees with their verdict and will leave the EU on October 31st against the law. Whether he agrees or disagrees is irrelevant. It is their verdict and under the rule of law he must obey it. Ten days ago parliament required him to ask the EU for an extension should he not bring back a deal to parliament. That same body of law has now just found him guilty of a major constitutional misdemeanour. The first signs are that he will double down and try to present it as the people against the establishment. He, as a prime example of the establishment, is complaining about that very establishment! This is rather a split in that nebulous but powerful structure and he doesn’t like it. And he doesn’t like it because we have come to the point where a referendum finally crashes into the very heart of the centre of the establishment power - a parliamentary democracy.

But remember that at this moment Boris is simply the mouthpiece for Dominic Cummings. Mr Cummings believes that to reform a system, first you must break it. So if Boris persists in his projection of Mr Cumming’s agenda, doubles down and determines to crash on through our constitution to his dreams of sunlit uplands, then I can imagine the ultimate result. Flashing blue lights outside Downing Street, four policemen entering the premises and coming out with the Prime Minister handcuffed to one of the officers.

Is this the end that you would want for our nation James? Can you really support this constitutional outrage? 

Personally I am relieved by this morning’s momentous decision. As a Briton, I can - for the first time in three years - proudly hold my head up high to the world and say that this is what an independent judiciary means. Peoples and governments around the world can see the meaning of this ultimate concept of parliamentary democracy. This is what the rule of law means. This is what true democracy means. It is difficult, sometimes very difficult – even messy - but in the end it keeps us safe from the rule of authoritarians and dictators. It is what keeps us all free. If Germany had had such institutional strength in 1933, the world would have avoided the deaths of up to 60 million people in World War Two. Be thankful for the rule of law James.  Law dispensed by a truly independent judiciary. 

You are probably under orders to ‘tough it out’ today. But please look to the gentler angels of your soul and admit to a degree of embarrassment, a tinge of unease about what your government has done. The Establishment represents hundreds of years of experience and wisdom. It doesn’t always get everything right but in this case its verdict was unanimous.

Any chance that you could find the courage to say sorry to your constituents? You may just be in time to be forgiven! 

Kind regards,                            

BH - Your Concerned Constituent.