Thread by @BestForBritain

Owen Paterson might have resigned as an MP, but that doesn’t mean that this Government has backtracked on its sleazy, silencing agenda. Here’s why you should still be concerned (despite the U-turns) about the Government’s actions...1/
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…

The Government initially protected Owen Paterson not by defending him as an individual, but by attempting to overhaul the whole Commons standards watchdog to suit itself. 2/
reuters.com/business/cop/m…

The Owen Paterson incident isn’t the only time the Government has shirked scrutiny.

Just consider how quick our Prime Minister was to ignore an investigation which found that Priti Patel had broken the ministerial code for her bullying behaviour. 3/
​​politicshome.com/news/article/p…

Oh, and of course it’s not just Priti Patel who’s fallen foul of the standards expected of a Government minister.

Our very own PM is constantly breaking the rules and finding ways to avoid the consequences. 4/

https://twitter.com/AlbertBapaume/status/1456163730543325185

And there may be more news on that on the way, with the Electoral Commission’s probe into the Downing St flat refurb now with the Conservatives for a response...5/

https://twitter.com/benrileysmith/status/1456383616586498059

While the Government may have chosen to stop protecting Owen Paterson, this wasn’t because of a sudden belief in justice and fairness. It was because the Government realised it had gone too far and upset the voting public. 6/

https://twitter.com/breeallegretti/status/1455907542664716289

The Government still relies on public support to maintain its position - but it is actually doing everything possible to rig the system in its failure, avoid accountability and engineer elections its own way. 7/

As well as trying to overthrow the Commons standards watchdog, the Government is trying to overthrow the elections watchdog @ElectoralCommUK through the damaging Elections Bill. 8/

The Elections Bill will allow the Government to avoid scrutiny by ending the independence of the Electoral Commission (very pertinent giving the current investigation into the PM's flat refurb), and restricting certain campaigners at election time. 9/
bestforbritain.org/whistlestoptou…

The Government is also trying to avoid scrutiny through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which would allow it to ban protests that it doesn’t like - meaning that it can close itself off to challenges. 10/

The more success the Government has in making itself unassailable, the less it will need to rely on the public - and it will be able to increasingly ride roughshod over public sentiment. 11/

Remember Government U-turns on free school meals? Remember the U-turn on NHS surcharges for overseas medical staff? The Government didn’t change its mind on these things because it suddenly became compassionate...12/
politico.eu/article/uk-gov…

The reason for previous Government U-turns, just like this one with Owen Paterson, is because it has overstepped the mark in its assessment of what it can get away with. Each egregious policy is a test for the Government to see how far it can push our democracy. 13/

So far, it has tested the limits of our democracy by U-turning 36 times in just 23 months. 14/
politico.eu/newsletter/lon…

So unless we keep showing our loud opposition to what the Government is doing, we’ll soon find our opposition counts for nothing - or that we can’t oppose this Government at all. Find out more about how the Government is suppressing democracy here 👇/ENDS
bestforbritain.org/betterdemocracy