Fair play and integrity, when it suits you

 

“The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a persons conscience”

Harper Lee – To kill a mocking bird

This week, Twitter has been ablaze with righteous indignation from the right wing and their attack dogs in the media about the appointment of Sue Grey as Sir Kier Starmer's Chief of staff, and one could argue that to the cynical mind it shows poor judgment on the behalf of the Labour party, but what is a little bit of poor judgment in a political system that is filled with goofs and gaffes that make you wonder how stupid they think we really are?

It seems to me that the conservatives think they are not only above the law, and above criticism, but they seem to think that they are the only ones to be able to pull of the dodgiest of shit, and it shows their total arrogance and belief that they are the chosen ones, with their old boy network and membership of secret societies, they really do have an unearned sense of entitlement, and this extends to doing nefarious shit

So whats happening? Well Sue Grey the author of the infamous Sue Grey report has been appointed as Sir Kier Starmer's Chief of staff, sparking outrage among....well no one, apart from cynical right wingers and their pet journalists, who want to get Boris Johnson off the hook for Party-gate, where The then Prime Minister was said to have attended parties at Number ten downing street.

While people including myself, had to stay away from dying relatives, and The Queen of England, sat alone in a church before her husband and love of her life was laid to rest.

Friends of Boris Johnson, if you believe he actually does have friends, insist that the appointment of Sue Grey to Starmer's Chief of staff, renders the Sue Grey report invalid, as it raises questions about impartiality, but if you look at the report, it's clear to see that the charges against Johnson would have been just as damning had it been carried out by anyone with a pair of functioning eyes.

How exactly the Johnsonistas expect to get Johnson off (not like that Dories, put it away) is beyond me, he lied to Mps, and the evidence is clear that he lied to Mps, and for me the real anger is that they didn't think to offer her a job themselves, I'm not going to list all charges against Johnson listed in the report, only the ones that you wouldn't be able to deny, unless you have had intensive Tory media training

• 18 June 2020: a gathering in No10 Downing street and the Cabinet office, 70 Whitehall on departure of a number 10 official;

• 19 June2020: a gathering in the cabinet room in No10 Downing Street for the Prime Minister's birthday;

• 13 November 2020: a gathering in the No10 Downing Street flat;

• 13 November 2020: a gathering in No10 Downing Street on the departure of a special adviser;

• 18 December 2020: a gathering in No10 Downing Street ahead of the Christmas break;

I don't care how big your house is, if there's a party going on in it, you know there is a party doing on in it, and I'm not just talking about Downing street here, I'm talking about the flat with that god awful wallpaper that kind soul, life peer and David Cameron's “white knight” Lord Brownlow who didn't want anything in return paid for, there is just no way you can plead ignorance even if you are Boris Johnson.

So it's clear to me that Johnson broke the law, the law he made everyone else adhere to, while Britain was doing all they could to be team players, the Tories flippantly ignored their own rules and gave a middle finger to all of us who played by the rules, because let's face it, they think they are far better than us, and Boris Johnson continues to flounce around all superior, and I swear to all that is holy, if his father gets a knighthood before Marcus Rashford, who instead of making things harder for children in poverty, actually tried to help, we riot.

But Trevor, why are you so mad about it all? Well thanks for asking I'll tell you.

Johnson has a reputation for being not so much economical with the truth, more like tight fisted with it, the amount of times he has been caught lacking in the truth department is only rivaled by the classic cartoon strip from Viz Comic, Aldridge Prior, hes a hopeless liar.

He wouldn't be able to tell the truth if the truth was tucked away in a roll of bank notes passed to him by a Russian Oligarch in a brown envelope, not that that ever happened of course, I would never say something unsubstantiated, or would I?

Johnson relationship with the truth is kind of like his relationship with his own children, pretty much non existent, he lied to the Queen about the Prorogation of Parliament in 2019, in an attempt to push through Brexit un challenged, a Brexit that was supposed to be oven ready, yet nearly four years later, only now do we see an end in sight.

The Problem those who are defending Johnson have with the Sue Gray report is that it clearly shows Johnson to be a serial liar, here is just a small selection of Johnson bullshit

• December 8: when asked “will the Prime Minister tell the house wheather there was a party in Downing Street on 13 November” He replied “No, but whatever happened, the guidance was followed and the rules were followed at all times, there was a photograph of Johnson at that very party holding a glass of Champagne at the very party he denied knowing anything about.

• December 20: After an image emerged of a separate No10 garden party on May 15 2020 with wine and cheese and more than a dozen attendees, the Johnson said “Those were people at work, talking about work, I have said what I have to say about that.”

• December 15: at a press conference, Johnson said “On your point about rules, I follow the rules, everybody across politics should follow the rules.”

There is even without the Sue Grey report, substantial evidence to point to Johnson's blatant lies, and that's just Johnson, The rest of the 'Firm” are just as bad if not worse.

Boris “Pants on fire” Johnson is just one player in a comedy of bullshit, that goes by the name of the Conservative party, admittedly not all of them are as bad as Johnson, but there are those who can challenge the Crown Prince of Horseshit,

I don't want to keep you all day reading this blog, so I'm not going to list all of the lies told by Tories in the last 13 years, because as satisfying and cathartic that would be, I would rather you check out some of my other blog posts (yep, shameless self promotion he he).

So here are a few of my favorites, a sort of “Now that's what I call Bullshit” collection of Tory lies and deceptions.

• Liam Fox as Secretary of state for international trade, pledged that as soon as Britain left the EU he would be able to sign 40 new trade deals “the second after midnight” Where are they

• Ian Levy, Conservative MP for Blyth Valley, stated across social media that he had “worked for 30 years as a mental health nurse with the NHS” when he isn't actually on any part of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register, he is not a registered nurse.

• Suella Braverman after repeating on many occasions that Small boats are an “invasion” and referring to immigrants as “Invaders” and “criminals” came unstuck when she had to admit that there was no safe route into the UK, and that people looking to settle in the UK had to set foot on British soil in order to claim asylum here, not a good look for the person who is in charge of this stuff.

So is it wrong that the the person that investigated Tory sleaze and corruption, ends up working for the Labour party? I admit, its probably something that one could file under “bad optics” but is it something that should invalidate the integrity of the Sue Gray report? No, no its not, if you want to look at conflicts of interest, take a look at hedge fund managers who go on to make decisions about bankers bonuses, and big bank regulation, not if Boris Johnson attended a party that he was photographed at drinking bolly and having a right old knees up.

As far as I can see, the conservatives have only two arrows in their quiver, The one beer and curry Sir Kier Starmer had after a day of campaigning, and this, but when you compare that to all the stuff the Tories have tried to pull, you can see why the Labour party is way ahead of the conservatives in the polls, and hopefully, they will stay there fro the inevitable general election, that in my opinion, is long past due.

Photo by Maria Fernanda Perez: https://www.pexels.com/photo/vehicles-traveling-on-the-road-5380087/