Thread by @BlayneyDeborah

WOW @margarethodge🔥
#ConfidenceMotion 18/7/22
"It is not just about #partygate, dreadful though that was, nor the failed attempt to defend the indefensible behaviour of Owen #Paterson, nor the abhorrent culture of tolerating bullying & sexual harassment from political allies;
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..these contribute to a loss of confidence, but they do not stand alone. There is also the endless list of incompetence & waste—taxpayers’ money being tossed around like confetti, with £16 billion fraudulently squandered on #COVID business support.
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There are the shameful failures in ambulance waiting times, 6 million citizens waiting for hospital treatment, people unable to travel because of the crippling delays at the Passport Office, and a stream of rail strikes and chaos at the airports.
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All that is unforgivable, but it is the creeping culture of #CORRUPTION & the determination to close down those whose job it is to keep a check on Executive power that makes this Govt unfit for office. There is a growing body of evidence of #corruption:..
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..dodgy #RussianMoney funding MPs & the Tory party; an explosion in illicit finance, with #Londongrad now the international capital for dirty money; peerages for pals like Cruddas & #Lebedev; jobs for mates, from those like James Wharton to people from the PM’s City Hall days;
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contracts for cronies, with only £0.2 bn of £17.3 billion in contracts for PPE subject to open competition. This is not the PM’s money & not the Conservatives’ money. It is our money—taxpayers’ money, earned through hard work—& we expect it to be honestly & efficiently spent
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This Govt have no moral compass. Look at their reaction when criticised by institutions that provide a check on their power. When the courts found that the Govt had illegally #prorogued @UKParliament, the Govt looked to limit judicial review...
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@parliament’s role in holding Govt to account has been eroded, with Ministers refusing to appear at Select Committees, the Prime Minister interfering in parliamentary elections, and...
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..legislation being rushed through with scant scrutiny. The independence of the civil service has been undermined, with permanent secretaries sacked for speaking truth to power and Ministers appointing their cronies as non-executive directors...
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Those in the press who dare to criticise the Govt get sidelined.The Govt tried to keep sections of the press out of No. 10 briefings. Their answer to criticism from @Channel4 is to privatise it, while @BBC’s reward for unbiased public service broadcasting is the licence fee..
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slashed. A free press, a strong @parliament, an independent judiciary and an impartial civil service are essential to a healthy #democracy. This Government have undermined these institutions, and it is shameful.
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This debate is essential to call a halt to the dangerous #Trumpian assault on everything we value in our British #Democracy.

This should not be about Conservatives against Labour.
Every MP needs to ask themselves, “Can I have confidence in a Govt who mislead with impunity,..
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..abuse office to reward friends with jobs and lucrative contracts, put self-interest above the national interest, allow their party to accept cash for access, influence and honours, and whose members indulge in egregious lobbying or sex, bullying and sleaze scandals?”..
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Can any hon. or right hon. Member in good conscience walk through the Lobby and declare their confidence after the litany of bad behaviours that have marked this Government’s time in office? The answer must be no."
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[@margarethodge
#confidencemotion debate 18/7/22]