I wrote the below email to my MP last night as a result of the met issuing fines to the prime minister and chencellor.
Of course these are just my thoughts. Everyone will think differently and may even disagree. However if I was guilty of a crime I would probably lose my job, be struck from the FCA and probably lose my role as a school governor. There have to be consequences to actions.
Dear (MP),
I am writing this email on the day it has been proven that Boris Johnson, our serving Prime Minister, along with his wife and the Chancellor of the exchequer have been found by the Metropolitan Police to have broken the Covid Laws the government, led by Mr Johnson had created.
As much as the cabinet, government ministers and indeed, backbench MP’s may offer a defence such as;
“Nurses and teachers after a long shift, would go back to the staff room and have a quiet drink” – Michael Fabricant in an interview to the BBC earlier today.
Jacob Rees Mogg in an interview to LBC on 4th April said that the strict “level of rule enforcement” over the last two years was “unkind and inhuman” along with it was “not something that should ever have happened.”
I notice this evening that a number of ministers are also coming out in defence of the actions of the Prime Minister and Chancellor by saying that there is a job that needs to get done and they are the best people for that job. I am sorry to say, that the MP’s are wrong. Whilst I acknowledge that the war in Ukraine is of the upmost importance and Russian aggression must be stopped, the war cannot act as an unfortunate, yet convenient diversion from the events happening at home. Indeed, Mr Johnson will be all too aware of the fate of Neville Chamberlain in 1940, after the start of the Second World War and how his position became untenable. The conservative government and the war parliament at the time were able to get behind the new leadership of Churchill and see out the War to a success. There is no reason why this could not happen again, especially with our current opposition parties supporting the efforts to defeat President Putin in Ukraine.
The impression being given off by Number 10 and the government is that if enough water passes under the bridge, the public will forget about the significance of the law breaking during lockdown and will happily move on. Or, that the cost of living crisis rises to such an extent that the government leadership needs to be trusted to resolve it. Unfortunately, this will be a tough argument to win over a large section of the population, including conservative voters. The reason for that is because the effects of Covid and the lockdowns cannot be easily forgotten. I could write pages of these reasons, but to do so would detract from the points I want to make in this email and I am hoping you will receive many more emails from your constituents with their reasons why this government can no longer be trusted. Allow me please, to give you mine.
Just under three weeks after Boris Johnson and friends and colleagues were having a birthday party in the cabinet office, my son had his 8th birthday. Given the rules in place at the time, he couldn’t spend time with his family and friends in person and enjoy the moment of having them sing Happy Birthday and share cake. Instead, he had to have a virtual party over Zoom as this was the only way he would get to spend time with them. A birthday party denied by the government who had put the rules in place at the time to protect the population from a virus, the full effects of which were still being studied by scientists. It turns out that actually, he could have had a party as those who wrote the laws and explained them to the British public had decided that in fact, they did not actually apply. How can the government expect to receive any form of respect from the children and youth of this country and that a civilised democracy is based on law abiding citizens when it has been proven that the law makers themselves broke the laws. There are strong comparisons, here, of a child not following the rules of snakes and ladders to ensure they win – miscounting squares to avoid sliding down the largest snake on the board, or adding an extra number on the die to climb the longest ladder.
On December 10th 2020, my Grandad died. He was 90. The last time I saw him in person was at the start of 2020, just before the pandemic began. All through 2020 we knew he was ill and I longed to see him again for one last conversation. Yes, we had phone calls and Zoom conversations. We were able to talk to him on his 65th wedding anniversary and we managed to have a family zoom call on his 90th birthday, again, no singing and sharing cake altogether. But none of that could replace an actual visit and a full day to talk about the state of English cricket, to watch Match of the Day together and comment on the demise and recovery of his beloved Aston Villa. I miss him dearly.
On the day of my Grandad’s funeral, this area was in tier 4. His funeral was being held in a tier 2 area. I had to call the funeral director and ask for clarification of the rules and to confirm that it was still ok for me to go to the funeral. I was one of two attendees out of the 30 permitted attending from a tier 4 area. The other being my grandad’s sister. Fortunately the funeral director said it was ok to attend but I would have to sit on my own during the service. I don’t know if you attended a funeral during the pandemic, but if you did I hope you were able to sit next to someone to share the grief on the day. Again. We were following the rules set at the time for our own safety from and the delta strain. Yet, the government and number 10 decided none of that applied to them and held a Christmas party, which I believe is still under investigation by the met
Those are just two examples of me personally being laughed at by the government for following the temporary laws that had been set out to protect us.
However on a larger scale, what does it say to those who were put on furlough? Those who lost their jobs and or businesses? Those who missed out on any form of support due to unfortunate circumstances beyond their control? What does it say to all those in the entertainment and hospitality sectors whose businesses were absolutely decimated? Those school children who have missed out on so much and whose mental health may have been significantly affected? I could go on and on.
With the fines having been issues today and the prime minister having misled parliament and the PM and Chancellor being the first ever serving in their respective offices to have proven to have broken the law and then just shaking it off with no serious consequences sets a dangerous precedent. Why should the public do anything asked of them in the future? If it didn’t apply to those in charge at the time, what is the difference? How do we know the lawmakers won’t be the lawbreakers again? What is preventing those MP’s who only a few weeks ago were calling for him to go but waiting for the police investigation to conclude from submitting their letters to the chair of the 1922 committee? Why has this all of a sudden become about party politics rather than a case of are those in charge morally intellectual enough to actually run this country? Have the Tory MP’s suddenly realised that the party has become so incompetent with a lack of moral strength that there is no one left who could actually lead it and the country? If that is the case, then we are all doomed to a future of law breaking, morally bankrupt and inept politicians to lead the way and in turn further distance themselves from the commoners they are elected to represent.
I ask you, please, take this email and the others you will no doubt receive or have already received and talk to your back bench MP’s about how you are all going to get out of this mess.
Many Thanks
James Tanton
Excellent letter James. Took the words right out of my mouth. Though mine are less polite!
Sometimes it seems like politicians don't think of themselves of being part of the people all common laws apply to. Like there's mankind and politicians.