Panicking Ministers lack a credible strategy and continue to stumble over Covid-19 and Boris Johnson is blustering when this crisis requires clear thinking.
Confusion over a threat to quarantine more than two million extremely vulnerable over-50s so soon after they were released is part of a deeper malaise as Downing Street appears to make up policies as it goes along.
The value of a clear national statement is overwhelming yet this incompetent Government announces last-minute U-turns and fails to explain glaring contradictions.
Boris Johnson time after time fails his first duty as Prime Minister which is to protect the country’s citizens, his fake optimism adding insult to the injury suffered by tens of thousands of families mourning lost loved ones.
We deserve order. He gives us more chaos.
Remove whip
By failing to remove the whip and suspend from the party an MP and former Minister arrested, quizzed then bailed over a rape allegation the Conservatives are – as Labour’s Jess Phillips asserts – “sending a terrible message from Westminster”.
Suspension would not be a judgment on the case but a recognition of the seriousness of an accusation requiring detailed investigation by the police in the interests of justice.
Questions must also be asked into the party’s handling of allegations after the whip was restored so that then-Dover MP Charlie Elphicke, accused of sex assaults, could vote to save Theresa May’s future. It was removed again when he was charged with sexual assault and he was convicted last week.
Westminster must ensure that all complaints are taken seriously, regardless of party politics.
Knight heroes
Paul Gascoigne has said that Big Jack Charlton and the other England 1966 World Cup heroes should all be knighted.
When Theresa May’s husband is awarded a knighthood, denying gongs to our world champions feels like a bigger snub than ever.
