By Tony O’Riley-
The Conservative MP Aaron Bell, who won Newcastle-under-Lyme from Labour at the last election, has announced his decision to submit a letter to the chairman of the 1922 Committee calling for a no confidence vote in Boris Johnson.
Bell revealed that he wrote his letter after PMQs on 12 January, when the prime minister apologized for the No 10 garden party he attended during lockdown, (but claimed he thought it was a work event). Bell says he did not find Johnson’s account plausible. He said he can now confirm that he has submitted the letter following conversations with councillors and council candidates in his constituency.
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Bell’s announcement reflects his anger about the findings of the Sue Gray report. In one of the most fierce criticisms against Johnson in the Commons in recent years, he told the prime minister:
‘It seems that a lot of people attended events in May 2020. The one I recall attending was my grandmother’s funeral. She was a wonderful woman. As well as her love for her family, she served her community as a councillor and she served Dartford Conservative association loyally for many years. I drove for three hours from Staffordshire to Kent.
There were only 10 people at the funeral; many people who loved her had to watch online. I did not hug my siblings. I did not hug my parents. I gave a eulogy and afterwards I did not even go into her house for a cup of tea; I drove back, for three hours, from Kent to Staffordshire. Does the prime minister think I am a fool?”.
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Unforgivable
Johnson’s attendance of the wedding is unforgivable for Bell, he is uninterested in excuses, and wants to see the back of the prime minister. But as the pressure grows against the prime minster, there is also the view that pandemic put the prime minister under immense pressure and he was not quite himself after he contracted covid-19. Johnson and his team may have well seen the restrictions to be necessary for the rest of the country under the pressure of other influences, and did what did what many other people did -relax a bit.
There has been speculation that downing street and many of those who attended couldn’t have been convinced the virus called for a whole national lockdown for that long. Some researchers have said it questions what they knew or how they felt about the covid restrictions they had subjected the country to.
Yet, in times of a global pandemic , national leaders can only go by the advice given by scientific advisers. Led by Neil Ferguson, downing street was given wildly inaccurate projections of covid deaths that never materialized , with the accomplished scientist discredited on a number of fronts.
The multiple parties known to have been held in downing street during the lockdown had angered many, but the party goers at no 10 were a not alone.
Many others broke the rules during the pandemic. Some were caught and fined, some were not. But the elite groups lucky enough to be on the VIP lists were insulated from fines, whilst a majority of the country were locked away at home. In reality, the provisions were guidelines for most of the lockdown, then later passed as law.
”many of those who broke the law did not believe strongly enough in them, says mental health expert Deon Vernhoven. Many people were suffering from mental health issues they were not even consciously aware of during that period.
‘Those who attended the parties would have taken the occurrence of a party as an opportunity to escape the the potential psychological trauma brought about by the daily news reports about covid deaths during the pandemic. The public was divided into those who kept the rules to save lives, and those who didn’t believe it was necessary. The latter lived as normal.
‘The prime minister may even have suffered mental health during the pandemic after he caught covid and from the stress of handling the pandemic. But a strong leader would have been expected to handle the pressure. It was a difficult time for everyone, but the idea that government officials were partying whilst most people were heavily restricted, stinks for many people. But if other highly placed professionals keep their job, maybe Johnson should be forgiven. We shall see”.
Johnson has apologized repeatedly for the breaches that took place under his charge, and has begun the process of shaking up no.10. Five senior downing street officials resigned today are said to be part of the shake up, but the prime minister’s critics are unconvinced.
Johnson has a strong support base base in parliament. He became prime mister with one of the highest majorities in the commons in recent times,. Only time will tell how the prime minister comes out at the end of all this.
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