SO on the eve of the planned publication of the Sue Gray report on the numerous Downing Street social events, the Metropolitan Police have suddenly decided to investigate these matters. How strange when they showed no such interest only a few short days ago. Even stranger is the fact they appeared to show no interest when over the past two years Downing Street held these many events.
Perhaps the presumably permanent police presence did not hear the singing of Happy Birthday on Boris’s big day or notice the quantities of food and drink carted in on a regular basis – some, it seems, hidden in a suitcase.
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As best I remember, the police investigation into allegations of cash for honours during the time of Tony Blair took over a year and ended with no-one being prosecuted. I have a strange feeling this investigation may end in a similar conclusion. At best a few junior civil servants will be sacrificed for the greater good of the Conservative Party and its leader.
The really worrying situation that we should all be focussed on is the sad fact that nothing would better deflect attention from Boris’s behaviour than the UK’s involvement in a war in the Ukraine. Having learned nothing from the human misery of the disasters of Iraq, Libya and most recently Afghanistan, the UK seems to be standing ready to be sucked into another foreign war. They have already started by supplying arms and training personnel to the Ukraine.
On Tuesday the Prime Minister did not turn up to answer questions on his numerous social events, choosing to wait to enter the chamber in time to justify the UK’s potential involvement in the Ukraine – an involvement then supported without question by the Labour leader and his party.
Brian Lawson
Paisley
WHAT is the purpose of the Met Police? They have moved from protecting the public to protecting the politicians. We’ve already seen the outrageous comments when it comes to the crooked activities of the Prime Minister and his cabal.
Apparently the Met no longer investigates crimes which happened in the past – so what is their definition of a crime now? Did the Met Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick watch 2002’s Minority Report starring Tom Cruise, which featured a “PreCrime” unit which used clairvoyants to predict future crimes and arrest the perpetrators before they have committed them, and think “this is the future for policing in London”?
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During the Partygate scandal apparently the civil servant investigating the issue – and reporting back to her boss Boris Johnson – actually interviewed serving police officers to determine if parties were taking place in breach of Covid regulations. So why could Dame Dick not ask her own staff what had happened? How could these police officers not report suspected criminal activity to their seniors? Boris Johnson has done his best to make all politicians look like crooks and liars, and it now looks like Dame Cressida Dick has had the same influence on policing in London. Can anyone remember any case where the police, instead of investigating if a crime had taken place, merely provided evidence to an employee of the alleged suspect?
It looks as if Boris Johnson resigning won’t be nearly enough to get rid of the corruption that has surrounded him. There must be serious questions asked over the role of the Met in refusing to investigate Johnson and his cronies.
Cllr Kenny MacLaren
Paisley
THERE is little wonder the Prime Minister has smirked so often when asked about the Downing Street parties. This issue provides a convenient smokescreen to hide his retreat. There are questions about government procurement during the pandemic that he would find much harder to answer than whether or not he knows what constitutes a party. He will surely feel a huge sense of relief if he can leave office without facing a more serious line of inquiry than partygate.
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When Johnson is eventually replaced, his successor may be less inclined to party but will probably be equally prepared to enhance the wealth of the economic elite at the expense of everyone else and may well have already acted to do so while in government. It’s not Johnson that must go, it is the toxic Union. Independence cannot come soon enough for Scotland.
Ni Holmes
St Andrews
OF course Boris is going to write off £5 billion of Covid business loans. If it’s anything like the PPE scandal, then it’s probably most of his mates that were coining it in as usual! Never mind, won’t be long before this self-important little man will be an ex-PM. However, remember the Westminster job retention scheme (otherwise known as the House of Lords) is still running, and no doubt Sir Boris will join the red benches! I wonder how many millions that will get in petition votes?
Steve Cunningham
Aberdeen
WHILE agreeing with much of Gerry Hassan’s article “It’s not just Johnson that is the problem – it’s also Toryism and the British State” (Jan 25), I would take issue with his inclusion of Winston Churchill among the minority of post-war Tory Prime Ministers whose initial elevation to power was through electoral victory. Churchill actually never won a General Election in his life. In 1951 he came second to Clement Attlee for the third time running, and yet managed nevertheless to be first past the post; a fact which actually makes Gerry Hassan’s indictment of the British state all the stronger.
Michael Bell
Kirkwall, Orkney
IN normal circumstances a Truss would be the remedy for a painful hernia, but how many shades of Gray will miraculously help the limping patient to a full recovery?
Richard Easson
Dornoch
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