On July 8th Boris Johnson finally succumbed to the pressure and resigned as Tory Party leader and of course as Prime Minister. It had taken more than 50 ministers and aides resigning before he gave in to the pressure to step aside. Being the person, he is, he didn’t leave No.10 there and then. He convinced his Cabinet and Party to let him remain in office till the 150,000 or so Tory members elected a new out of touch sociopath.
It would have been expected that he left office the same day as he resigned. Then God help us all, Dominic Raab his Deputy would assume the role of leader and PM on a temporary basis. So what did Johnson do in the intervening days from then till now? Well, we know he had several parties at Chequers. He also was known to have hosted a lavish wedding party in a Tory donor’s mansion. Then he took off to Slovenia for a belated honeymoon with his wife Carrie. In between times he was flying RAF Typhoon jets, firing rocket launchers at an army base in England.
Then he opted for some Greek Island hopping over the past two weeks. It seemed he was ticking off a bucket list while still on the payroll of UKPLC Tax payers or MUGS for short. He is reported to have had a great time sailing, reading books, swimming, drinking dining out in numerous Greek restaurants. I don’t want to be a killjoy, however if he was so determined to stay on as PM he should at least have been working on something beneficial to his paymasters, the British taxpayers not hosting lavish parties and holidaying at our expense.
The UK economy is in tatters. Energy prices are at an all time high, it is expected that around 50% of the entire UK population will be suffering from energy poverty this winter. A recent survey suggested that up to 52% of our SME businesses in UK, the backbone of the economy think it is unlikely they will survive the next 12 months! Pensioners groups are forecasting thousands of deaths this winter from hypothermia and malnutrition. Interest rates are rising fast, which means the cost of borrowing and mortgages rises along with them. Sadly wages are not keeping pace with inflation. Unless of course you are a boss or politician.
At 18% it is getting to hyper-inflation time! Railways · Barristers · Postal services · Container ports · Telecoms · Teachers · Hospitals · Refuse workers all on strike as wage rises fail to keep pace with this inflationary pressure. In real terns most workers, as opposed to MPs and Bosses have been taking pay cuts since the banks collapsed in 2008!
“Another bottle of your finest Ouzo my good man!” just doesn’t cut it. If you want to remain in the job then do it! Tory politicians really do live in a parallel universe. In any other walk of life you resign and go the same day. You do not get to swan about while your employer, in this case the British Tax payers picks up the tab!
He finally got back to work on Wednesday this week, the only problem being it wasn’t on behalf of the British population. This time Johnson turned up in Kiev like a drunken sailor with no arms committing more of our taxes for this lost cause!
He met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Wednesday to mark the country’s independence day, promising a further package of military support to Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.The 54 million pound ($63.5 million) package will include 2,000 drones and loitering munitions to enable the Ukrainian military to better track and target invading Russian forces, Johnson’s office said in a statement.
All this does, is prolong a war that Ukraine can never win. More and more innocent Ukrainian civilians will die the longer this conflict continues. Also note there is no money in the UK to pay the rail workers, the postal workers indeed any workers. We cannot afford to pay our pensioners a decent pension. We are going to let thousands of them starve or die of hypothermia because we would rather arm a foreign country in a war it cannot win.
I hate wars, all wars.They are a result of the failure of diplomacy. Wars are a victory for the lobbying by the military industrial complex.There is no profit in peace! Wars mean the billionaire arms dealers get more millions to hide offshore. While they amass wealth, innocent civilians die.The only ones in this or any conflict that are free of blame are the ordinary non combatant population!
So I do not want a Prime Minister that is helping to continue this killing. I want a Prime Minister that is trying to bring peace, not offer up more weapons to kill people. This is a US/NATO/ Russian proxy war. Both sides are willing to fight to the last Ukrainian. Both sides are willing to continue till there are no houses, no shops, no roads, no people left in Ukraine. As long as there is no damage done to Washington or Moscow or Berlin or London, then they will just keep feeding the killing and the weapon manufacturers.
Meantime, in UK there is a Tory circus on tour throughout the island trying to pretend to the people of the UK that they are in some way involved in this farce of a process that will result in the choosing of our next Prime Minister. Both the candidates are promising tax cuts for the wealthy and more poverty for the poor. There is always money for wars and enriching the few. Yet still some think that the best Scotland can do is to remain in this union!
What of our First Minister, the defacto leader of the Scottish independence movement? Well, she is on stage at a poorly attended Edinburgh Fringe event extolling her Britishness. She has done nothing all summer to advance the cause of independence or to protect the Scottish people from the approaching winter of death!
Our politicians showing us that they are only interested in their pet projects, not our well being. Be that prolonging unwinnable wars and killing innocent civilians or self-promoting themselves in the most vulgar way imaginable. We are on our own folks, only by taking matters into our own hands can we affect the changes in our circumstances that are needed!
In a pice about Boris Johnston you could not resist getting in an opinion on the Russian invasion.I cannot accept your interpretation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I have followed your blog almost since its inception. I will no longer do so.
No you haven’t and goodbye
Good article Roddy; I’m in total agreement with you about this dreadful proxy war. As for the money going on weapons when people here are going hungry and desperately worried how they are going to survive; it is a disgrace.
Harry ask yourself this? Why does the West protect Ukraine, but ignores Palestine? I shouldn’t have to explain the answer, but in case you don’t comprehend.
This is a geopolitical proxy war. The US aided by other European countries want to strangle the Russian economy because theirs is tanking.
Of course Russia is wrong, and of course they shouldn’t invade other countries. But what is happening in Dombas and Crimea is plain to see. Nato expansion caused this conflict.
Excellent piece Roddy .
Aye , there he was , the very embodiment , the putrid fruit , of the English Class System – Johnson – marching around the capital of one of the most politically corrupt countries in world , after his extended pre-exit ( stage Right in pursuit of the anticipated big money book-deal , lecture tours , board-membership ie… the rewards of serving Corporate interests ) holiday/s , delivering the * message * – almost unbelievable in it’s cynical warping of the truth and brazen attempt at blame-shifting …..the present and impending economic savagery to be inflicted on the people is ” the price we must pay ” – to prolong the death and destruction taking place in Ukraine : the ONLY solution to which is a negotiated peace settlement . A solution not a single ” Western ” leader is even suggesting .
Yes , that’s right the ” price WE must pay ” ; who’s this ” we ” ? Will a single member of this without doubt worse Political Class ever be shivering cold and hungry , living in dread of what demand is coming through the letterbox next , a single one of them ? NO , NOT ONE . They’ll all be just fine .
And what of our own Madame de Pompadour , our Vogue Evita , what’s been her contribution so far ?
Well , she got to * chair * a nice wee photo-op disguised as a ” Summit ” ( or summat like that ) , where she got to look * powerful * and – from a certain angle , * concerned * , surrounded by adoring poodles nodding obediently as their Queen uttered the magical incantation they’d all be waiting for …….” something must be done ”
Not by ” her ” Government , don’t be stupid ! them , them down there , FFS not THEM eg the heroic Jockish MPs ( they’re fully occupied enjoying the ” cut and thrust ” – and sundry perks – of WM life ) the other ” them ” , the convenient gape-scrotes for Nu SNP feebleness , that’s right ….the Tories . Well , raise my rent , never saw that one coming
Bet those Energy Corps’ bosses are quaking in their Gucci bootees now