"AND having such a knowledge of our own umbleness, we must really take care that we’re not pushed to the wall by them as isn’t umble. All stratagems are fair in love, sir.” (Uriah Heep in David Copperfield by Charles Dickens).

We know Uriah Heep feigned umbleness, as did the man who at this time holds the office of Prime Minister when making his statement on the Sue Gray report in the House of Commons. Copperfield subsequently describes Heep as a “malevolent baboon”. Much the same might be said of the other fellow, whose proclivity for “stratagems” is only too well known.

To paraphrase, all is fair in love of self, of power, and of prestige.

AC-12 might want to scrutinise a few of those stratagems and hold them up to the light, to the “letter of the law”.

So umble is our own Uriah that dissembling is become second nature, maybe even of the essence of the man, and so he is minded in his hubris that his power is exempt from any measure of morality. His deep-seated sense of entitlement is surely a delirium of omnipotence, and he will not be “pushed to the wall”.

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Have we all grown so weary, so devoid of a healthy passion and affection for justice and truth, that we are prepared to accept with little more than a tired shrug of the shoulders some cynically “umble” apology? Are we so wearied by, and inured to, all that is fake, that we cannot – out of love and care for democracy – do any more than accept that we must now “move on” and “turn the page”? Thus we would give leave to the “posh vandals” to continue their ideological war on the very fabric of democracy.

A sane and healthy society and a vigorous democracy cannot thrive if all that they are fed is fake. The strength of both derives from a desire for the good – for the nurturing of the common good – and from a truly humble service to the truth. Umble is not good enough. It is menacing … not unlike a “malevolent baboon”.

Patrick Hynes
Airdrie

THE Oscars are past so what award was Uriah – “I am humbled” – Johnson attempting to acquire with that awful performance to the House? His braying minions applauded and “hear hear”-ed on cue and the camera beamed the impertinent address to the nation!

Once again the population of this country was subjected to mealy mouthed hypocrisy as he cavorted (eyes down, you will have noticed) for the sycophants behind him. Not for him an awareness of the pain the nation had endured through the pandemic guidelines; not for them the decency of shame at the money bonanza for PPE abuse; not for him the understanding of the pain at being unable to attend to your sick relatives; not for them serving or listening to the electorate who put them there; all we had was pantomime of the most disgusting order with the Opposition’s anger and demand for justice thrown away as irrelevant and petty!

As if that were not enough, the promises to fix it all by (yes, you’ve got it) blaming others and sorting them out spewed across the chamber and we poor fools were expected to believe him! What a brave man ... he faced his accusers, he was humbled, and – not a penitent cell in his body!

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They think they got away with it ... he certainly does ... but do we? Will we continue to allow this aberration of a Prime Minister continue with his disdain and derision and utter disregard of the truth to strut and pontificate at will? Now is the time.....

E Ahern
East Kilbride

WHEN Eton-educated Boris Johnson was a member of the Bullingdon Club at Oxford, this club of Hooray Henrys would regularly engage in acts of drunken vandalism then pay for the carnage caused. This was due to their sense of entitlement and contempt for the “lower orders” .

In her report into lockdown parties, Sue Gray detailed drunken debauchery, flagrant rule-breaking and utter disdain for the Downing Street security and cleaning staff. This is entirely consistent with how Boris Johnson sees the world and encourages his entourage to behave. In short, Boris Johnson is the problem. He is a liar, a fraud, a crook, a clown and an imbecile.

It defies credulity to believe that Boris Johnson did not know and encourage this type of behaviour. The only thing Johnson is sorry for is that he got caught. His explanations are as credible as plot lines in a porno film.

Boris Johnson’s time as Tory dictator is an abomination. All the rules and norms have been thrown out. All that matters is telling lies to keep Johnson in power. His leadership is a malignancy. A rancid fleck of tuberculotic sputum.

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Johnson’s untruths have infected public discourse so much that lies have replaced truth in defence of obscene corruption.

Johnson and his cronies are responsible for mass-death due to Covid-19. The Tories have literally caused the destruction of an entire society. They have committed crimes previously only done by fascist regimes. They should be arrested, tried, convicted and jailed for several decades.

Alan Hinnrichs
Dundee