I reckon it’s time The Proclaimers added another verse to their rather wonderful polemic song What Do You Do?
That’s the one with the refrain of “what do you do, when democracy fails you?”
It needs a 2021 tweak to add something about what do you do when your MP votes in favour of a motion widely condemned as Conservative sleaze and political corruption writ large?
That would be the vote to block the suspension of Tory MP Owen Paterson for breaching lobbying rules then go on to rip up that very rule book to be re-written by a committee chaired by and loaded with Conservatives.
It seems Tories have no problem with not just ignoring democracy
That grubby stitch-up was reversed in short order in the face of an outcry not just from opposition parties but from ordinary people up and down the country.
It appeared the Tories were circling the wagons to protect one of their own.”
Folk saw this in simple terms. It appeared the Tories were circling the wagons to protect one of their own who was breaking rules by taking money for lobbying for businesses paying him top dollar.
Not only that, the Conservatives were quite prepared to hound out the independent commissioner who made that ruling, then rework the standards to something more in their own image.
In short, it suggests some Tories have no problem with not just ignoring democracy, but privatising it.
Disappointment over my own MP
Even in these dark days when you might think nothing our Tory overlords in Westminster will do is surprising, this one was a shocker.
So I was disappointed to see my own MP, Andrew Bowie, had voted in favour of this odious move.
Maybe it’s just me, but I thought my representative in Westminster was there to uphold standards in public life, not be part of an assault on them.
Of course, Mr Bowie and the rest of his Tory colleagues faced a three-line whip to toe the party line. But “a big whip made me do it, then ran away” doesn’t hold water. Not when there were 13 Tories who rebelled and more than 90 who recorded no vote.
Something rotten in corridors of power
I have, as is my right, contacted my MP to ask if he could explain his actions. I’ve yet to hear a response.
If anything good comes of this sordid episode it’s that more people are waking up to what is going on in the corridors of power at Westminster and they don’t like it.”
But I have been watching with interest the response from the hard-right Tory cabal at the heart of this, with it being dismissed as “about the process” or a mere “storm in a teacup” or something of “no interest outside the Westminster bubble”.
Sorry chaps, but the apparent return of Tory sleaze – something former PM John Major thought he had rooted out at Westminster – is of interest. The general condemnation around the country proves that – a chorus of disapproval they can’t even muffle by playing the “we got Brexit done” card.
If anything good comes of this sordid episode it’s that more people are waking up to what is going on in the corridors of power at Westminster and they don’t like it. Something is rotten here.
And more and more people might start to realise it really is time to take back control.
Scott Begbie is entertainment editor for The Press & Journal and Evening Express
Read more by Scott Begbie:
- New Aberdeen Market will serve up a tasty boost for heart of our city
- Saving the planet is not a spectator sport
- Let’s find the confidence to get back to normal life again