Thread by @swardley

"collapsing under the weight of his own contradictions at the one time we need leadership" ... no holds barred response to "freedom day".

I don't blame Boris though. I blame the people who voted for him and this party. You are responsible.

https://twitter.com/LBC/status/1417171944605163530

Dominic Grieve, the former chair of the intelligence and security committee was very clear on what we faced with Boris - ... so "collapsing under the weight of his own contradictions" was almost inevitable.

X : You're a fan of Dominic Grieve?
Me : I disagree with him on aspects of policy including brexit. But, I have respect for him. This is not something I have for Boris.

X : I can't work out whether you're Labour or Tory?
Me : Eh?
X : Well, you don't like Blair.
Me : Ah. I'm old Labour. I share more in common with many one Nation Tories that were eviscerated from that party than either Blairism, Thatcherism or this current kayfabe of Boris.

X : Starmer?
Me : He is doing fine. He is right to call this move reckless - theguardian.com/politics/2021/…

To be blunt, there has been many reckless things done ... this is not an isolated incident ... just look at Foreign policy and our cutting of Foreign aid.

"Boris Johnson is reckless, unfit to govern and a public inquiry cannot be delayed" - bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi… ... by now, this really should not come as a surprise. The problem however is who would replace him? Gove? Sunak? Iain Duncan Smith? Out of the frying pan into the fire.

This is the problem that I have with our current situation. As dreadful as Boris is, the "Del Boy" of politics ... he is still better than Boycie, Rodney, Trigger, Marlene and Denzil who are waiting in the wings.

None of them are fit to govern.

X : So, what's your suggestion?
Me : There is no mechanism to deal with this other than a general election. I'm afraid we're going to have to accept responsibility for who we voted for and wait until May 2024. We have three more years of this.

X : Why blame the electorate?
Me : Blaming Boris for being Boris is unreasonable. It's not like his character was hidden or we were decieved. The responsibility is with those who put them in power and that would be us, the electorate. We did this. We own this. All of it.

X : The inference is, if an election was held today the result would be different.
Me : We have inertia, we have denial. I do not think we are ready to take responsibility. I have no doubt that Boris would win today. Three more years of this ... maybe then things will change.

X : Do you think they will?
Me : Change? Maybe. I have my doubts. I know too many people who vote not on policies or character but on faction and on whether the party is "perceived" as likely to win i.e. many like to be on the winning side.

X : You think Corbyn would have been better?
Me : Not important. That is the past, that path has gone. We should own what we have created and look forwards.

"the current gung-ho, authoritarian approach of the government could allow press freedom to be clamped into silence" -> How a proposed secrecy law would recast journalism as spying - theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

Hmmm. By 2024 I was expecting us to have lost ...
a) The NHS
b) The right to protest
c) The universal vote (replaced with voter ID)
d) Challenge in Government (MPA / NAO / transparency)
e) The BBC (or any resemblance to impartiality)

... but no whistleblowers either?