28/09/2019
The British Prime Minister has not enjoyed a honeymoon period, anyone can see that.
He has lost so many initial votes in the House of Commons the it is almost impossible to believe that any future holder of the office could have such a cataclysmic baptism in the role.
His prorogation of parliament was found to be unlawful by the Supreme Court. Some hoped for this outcome, maybe a few expected it. No-one, it seems, really believed it would be a unanimous verdict; 11:0 and a humiliating defeat.
It is inconceivable to suggest that, in recommending prorogation to the Queen, the Prime Minister did not deliberately mislead our Monarch. His statements in the months leading up to the act of proroguing parliament, his claims during the process and his reported discussions with one of his supporters who actively pushed for Johnson to plan the prorogation before had even become Prime Minister, leave us in little doubt about his subterfuge.
I have, for well over three years, suggested that Johnson should face charges for Misconduct in Public Office; initially for his blatant and repeated lies during the referendum campaign.
The manner in which he attempted, and briefly managed, to prorogue parliament would also appear to be sufficient cause for him to face such charges.
However, yesterday it was announced that a case has been referred for his actions whilst Mayor of London. The Greater London Authority (GLA) has asked the Independent Office for Police Conduct to assess whether the Prime Minister should be formally investigated over his relationship with Jennifer Arcuri, a US tech entrepreneur and former model.
Boris' disposition for lying is on record for having spanned for many years; right from the early days of his parliamentary career.
In November 2004, Johnson was a shadow arts minister under Michael Howard, Conservative Vice-Chair. He was also editor of the Spectator and it was reported in multiple tabloids that he had a long affair with Petronella Wyatt, one of the magazine’s columnists, which had resulted in two terminated pregnancies.
Johnson publicly stated the allegations were untrue, calling them an “inverted pyramid of piffle”, and made the same assurances they were false to Michael Howard. Once proof of the allegations was uncovered, Howard asked Johnson to resign. Johnson refused and was therefore fired for dishonesty; and this was not the first time he had been dismissed from a job for dishonesty.
Long after most Leave campaigners backed off from the £350m per week claim written on the side of the Brexit bus, Johnson was repeatedly doubled down, writing in September 2017 “yes – once we have settled our accounts, we will take back control of roughly £350 million per week” – an untrue claim for which he was reprimanded for “clear misuse of official statistics” by Sir David Norgrove, who governs ministers’ use of figures.
Johnson’s response was to ignore yet again the official reprimand, accuse the watchdog of politicisation, then claim in January 2018, without evidence, that £350 million a week was in a fact a “gross underestimate” of what the UK sends to the EU.
Fake news from Brussels
After being sacked by the Times for fabricating news stories, Johnson moved to The Daily Telegraph, working as the publication's Brussels correspondent between 1989 and 1994.
Amongst the fictitious articles he wrote were these “Euromyths”:
plans to introduce same-size “eurocoffins”;
the establishment of a “banana police force” to regulate the shape of the curved yellow fruit;
a ban for prawn cocktail crisps; and
a ban for British pink sausages.
Many of these Euromyths are still believed by some!
When questioned about them in parliament, he denied suggestions they were a figment of his imagination, saying “There is a great deal of effort being made to deprecate those who think we should leave the EU and everything we say is somehow mythical”.
Boris Johnson claimed he did not mention Turkey during the referendum after it was suggested he falsely claimed 80 million Turks would come to Britain unless the UK left the EU.
However, he actually co-signed a letter stating that “the only way to avoid having common borders with Turkey is to vote Leave and take back control”. The Vote Leave campaign also produced a poster reading: “Turkey (population 76 million) is joining the EU”, and “David Cameron wants Turkey to join the EU. How will our NHS cope?”.
In the past few days, Johnson's comments in the House of Commons have been absolutely disgraceful; falling far short of what we should expect from any one in public office, let alone the Prime Minister.
His abhorrent behaviour on Wednesday, when facing questions in the chamber, should have been enough for his ow party to demand his resignation, but yet again they are doubling down and refusing to apologise for the things he has said.
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