ANOTHER week and another drama at the heart of British politics.
I can only imagine that the scriptwriters for The Thick Of It or House of Cards will be thinking about how can they pitch for a new series or political show, when it seems that satire has become the norm in UK politics.
Gone are the days when politics used to be based on integrity and intellectual pursuit, now it's more like a farce.
A sad opening to this week’s column I know but one that gets to the heart of the political issue we face in Britain right now.
Politics in the UK has been undermined by a calibre of politicians that I wouldn’t trust to run a bath never mind run the country.
The recent media appearances by Paul Scully and Nadine Dorries pays testament to that. How on earth they can go out and defend Boris Johnson is to me utterly incomprehensible.
This is something that voters won’t forget when they are next asked to go to the ballot box.
I’m immensely proud of what the last Labour government achieved in office. At the heart of our programme for government was a positive vision to radically transform Britain for the better which took millions of people and families out of poverty, supported working families, invested in our public sector, invested heavily in our NHS and gave millions of workers for the first time a minimum wage that they could rely upon.
The country felt good domestically, and internationally there was a renewed feeling that Britain was once again a key player on the international stage.
Or in other words, when the grown-ups ran the country. Thank god for politicians like Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Tony Blair and Gordon Brown
Contrast that with what we have right now, a government that is embroiled in scandal after scandal, where backbench Tory MPs are submitting their letters of no confidence to the 1922 committee, where government whips are threatening MPs with withdrawing support and investment for their respective constituencies if they go against the PM.
You get a sense of the culture of modern-day Conservatism where a prime minister puts party before country to deal with a Tory party issue instead of taking a call with Vladimir Putin with regard to the Ukraine crisis.
The global reputation of Britain has been severely damaged as a result of Brexit, which was nothing more than a vanity project for the hard right of the Tory Party.
Like many people reading this column, I’m still waiting to see the promised £350m or the so-called Brexit dividend which would see millions of pounds invested into our NHS.
This speaks volumes to me. What it actually says is that it’s all about Johnson and has all the hallmarks of what America experienced under Trump. The outcome for Johnson will be the same and he knows it.
Sticking to the Trumpian textbook of confusion and miscommunication goes to the core of Johnson’s communications strategy.
His latest dreadful remark to Keir Starmer about Jimmy Savile was nothing more than a tactic to get the media talking about that as opposed to what the issue is – his lack of credibility.
There is no denying that Johnson is politically savvy and he will know that the game is up and that he is in a tight spot. That it’s not a case of if but when he goes.
Or as one Conservative MP said to me this week in parliament: “I think you will find the term managed departure is likely to be the case when it comes to Boris and the successor to Boris must be the complete opposite to him.”
In my heart, I know that what we are experiencing as a country with Johnson will pass.
This is nothing more than a blimp in the history of British politics and that the natural balance will be restored where a battle of visions for a better Britain will once again be the norm.
But let’s never forget that whilst the rest of the country stuck to the rules, he was out partying and doing what he wanted. I don’t need Sue Gray’s report to tell me that Johnson must go.
Barrie Cunning is a former Scottish Labour Party candidate and is the managing director of Pentland Communications.
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