The Line of Duty team interview Johnson:
“In the name of God, go!”
Then he tried to costanza his way out of the mess:
Boris Johnson: “I take full responsibility for everything done in this Government.”
Also Boris Johnson: “Nobody told me that what we were doing was against the rules.”
Very nicely put
Yes, thanks. All too fitting.
That was quite good. Sadly the London Metropolitan Police seem to be taking the same line as the Conservative leadership. Waiting for an investigation by Sue Gray.
For those hoping that the high expectations of this investigation are going to reveal something substantial…sadly the terms of reference are vague enough to allow the politicians to claim it puts them in the clear.
Handling inquiries is something Westminster politicians learn very early in their careers. As Sir Humphrey in ‘Yes Minister’ so clearly advised:
‘Never set up an inquiry unless you know in advance what its finding will be.’
If only the thousands of people prosecuted and fined for doing exactly what the Government have been doing had realised that they could have just asked the police to wait while they carried out their own internal investigations into their gatherings, they could have saved themselves a lot of money and trouble.
Apart from its Cromwellian origins, that would have been doubly wounding personally to Johnson, as it was famously said by a former close colleague and loyal supporter of Chamberlain in the debate on the defeat in Norway that led to his resignation and Churchill’s elevation. To think that BJ fancied himself as a Churchill, and then look at the feeble incompetence and petty failings that made this mess…
It’s telling that his initial response was to say he’d never heard of the quote, which for any other author of a book on Churchill would be a pretty stunning admission, but for Boris, author of “The Churchill Factor”, is all too believable.
So he’s Chamberlain in this scenario? “I have returned from the off-licence with a pissup for our time…”
In the last 30s of this interview, ex Tory MP Rory Stewart finally makes the point that none if this should be a surprise, and that the fact Boris was allowed to become PM reflects badly on Britain as a serious country.
https://twitter.com/HannahAlOthman/status/1484434832906235911?t=U51Nr2m71Sby8aUhKMV81A&s=19
Conservative MP William Wragg drops a bombshell accusation of illegal intimidation and blackmail against Johnson’s government and its minions.
Naturally Johnson and his allies pushed back as hard as they could, but this is not an allegation that was made lightly. Wragg went so far as to suggest that anyone targeted by such efforts should contact law enforcement.
(Americans following this story long-distance may not be fully aware of just what a nasty piece of work Johnson really is, and always has been.)
The entire Conservative Party knew exactly what a nasty piece of work Johnson was, and decided “This is the man to lead us”.
And it worked! Good ol’ Tories.
Further case in point:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/14/black-eyes-boris-johnson-plot-attack-reporter-darius-guppy
The British people deserve so, so much better than this.
Why do they deserve better?
It’s a great country with a storied past and a long tradition of democracy, not to mention its being a key ally of the US. I’ve visited it three times, have ancestral roots there, and want only the best for it.
But it’s only a dozen or so who have made accusations; the rest probably caved in.
And now there’s this: