As I thought about this week’s piece I first thought I needed to complete the story started last time concerning Match of The Day favourite Gary Lineker’s fate at the hands of the Tory-controlled BBC.
Now fully reinstated, we can reflect on how it took the audacity of a sports presenter to expose the Tory Government’s attempt at remedying the Channel small boats problem by sending all refugees to the unsafe African state of Rwanda without even allowing any to stay here in an attempt to asylum.
This has been followed up by ‘Cruella’ Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, visiting Rwanda and claiming that the accommodation on offer was wonderful and she would be pleased to be housed there. Maybe she is worried about defeat in next year’s General Election? The USA. by the way, followed this with a report that Rwanda was basically a failed state and inherently unsafe. Whom do we believe?
Or should I lead on the details of Rishi’s tax returns showing he made £4.8 million over the past three years with only about £410,000 coming from his MP and ministerial salary, with the rest coming from his interest, dividends and capital gains from his US-based investments.
How can a person of such immense wealth and income be able to represent the average person and understand the real financial constraints under which we are all suffering, when his greatest financial concern is how big a swimming pool he can afford?
But I finally decided that the story of the week was that which also allowed Rishi to sneak out his tax returns – that of yesterday’s man Boris Johnson’s to attempt to defend the indefensible and explain before the House of Commons privilege committee.
Now, I really believe that the court of public opinion has already come to a conclusion on Partygate. But to hear the flimsy attempt by Johnson to clear his name left one hearing the barrel being scraped.
Some once more fringe Tories like Jacob Rees-Mogg believe it is all a ‘kangaroo court’. Then there is the reformist former ERG, now junior minister, Steve Baker who warns Johnson he could end up with a legacy as ‘a pound shop Nigel Farage’ if he does not shape up and realise when he is fighting a lost cause.
So, once again, it is good old Blustering Boris who leads this week’s poll, and keeps the disunity of the Tory Party well and truly to the fore. In retrospect, his defence in front of his tormentors this week read like a re-run of Tony Blair’s regarding the events of 2003: ‘I lied in good faith’. Poor old Rishi Sunak must be wondering when his trouble might end!