Boris Johnson must face the consequences of his government’s corruption

by the SNP
Posted on
3 years ago
3 min read

Selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership.

These are the seven values that are expected of those who serve in Parliament and government.

However, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is meant to uphold these values, his and his party’s continuous dishonesty and corruption show just how broken the Westminster system is.

For months now, we’ve seen a Prime Minister and his government who think they can rip up the rule book and ignore the checks and balances of democracy.

This Westminster government has given seats in the unelected House of Lords to party donors, given Covid contracts to their pals, used emergency Covid funding to conduct pro-union campaigning, and this is a government where if you text the right person, you could even get a tax break. Enough is enough.

This Westminster Tory government thinks it can ignore Parliament, break the ministerial code, and believe they can get away with it.

This is a government of vendetta, where the government seeks to silence or sideline all who legitimately challenge them – and undermine all independent checks on their powers or actions.

The stench of corruption even reaches the Tory corner of Holyrood, as the Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross *forgot* to declare an extra £28,000 in earnings.

That’s more than the average person in Scotland makes in a single year.

Douglas Ross may know how to run the line at Hampden, but it’s clear he lacks the ability to toe the line when it comes to following the standards for members of Parliament. It’s time for him to be shown the red card.

All of this makes it clear that we face a government unbound by decency and willing to bend the rules to protect its MPs, while ensuring it faces minimal opposition to re-election.

Once again, Keir Starmer’s Labour is nowhere to be seen in holding this Prime Minister to account.

We will not let Boris Johnson get away with his government’s corruption and his attacks on our democracy.

The Prime Minister must be censured. He must be punished for his actions – which is why the SNP has tabled a motion of censure against the Prime Minister to be debated today.

The choice for Labour is clear: stand up for democracy and back our motion, or let the Tories undermine it indefinitely.

Instead of putting up with it, Scotland can build a fairer and more democratic future as an independent country.

An independent Scotland would have the power to make different choices, with different results, making choices best suited to Scotland’s interests and values.

Only with independence can we escape an entrenched UK establishment consumed with corruption and sleaze and ensure our democracy is protected from rule-rigging Tories.

The only way Scotland can be protected from the grasping ambitions of the Tories, a Labour Party that refuses to stand up to them, and the Westminster system that is broken beyond repair, is through independence.

But as we wait for that day where Scotland joins the rest of the world as an outward-looking, independent nation, we will do all we can to stand up for democracy across the United Kingdom.