What Lib Dems are saying about the resignations

By | Wed 6th July 2022 - 7:30 am

What a night. Boris Johnson apologised for appointing Chris Pincher demonstrating not for the first time his distance from the real world most of us live in. But then a man who doesn’t know when a party is a party is unlikely to have a grasp on when a grope is a grope. The resignations of the chancellor and health secretary, followed by a slew of junior resignations would have left most prime ministers considering their position. But it seems that all Johnson cares about is his own survival.

After Health Secretary Sajid Javid and ex-Chancellor Rishi Sunak quit within ten minutes of each other, Conservative vice-chair Bim Afolami, trade envoy Andrew Murrison, parliamentary private secretaries Saqib Bhatti, Jonathan Gullis, Nicola Richards and Virginia Crosbie, and solicitor-general Alex Chalk followed.

Overnight Lib Dems have been reacting to the unfolding events. Here is a selection of comments.

 

* Andy Boddington is a Lib Dem councillor in Shropshire. He blogs at andybodders.co.uk.

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6 Comments

  • Brad Barrows 6th Jul '22 - 7:59am

    “…a man who doesn’t know a party is a party is unlikely to grasp when a grope is a grope.”

    Brilliant.

  • Mick Taylor 6th Jul '22 - 9:33am

    Of course he doesn’t grasp when a grope is a grope. The only difference between Johnson and Pincher is the gender of the groped.

  • George Thomas 6th Jul '22 - 9:44am

    If in the next few weeks the Tories regains their “sensibilities” and return to being a party where private auctions allows billionaire’s private access to MP’s, public services already cut to the bone are cut even further to allow for tax cuts (coincidently benefiting those tennis partner’s) and it’s all paid for by masses of people becoming even more reliant on foodbanks, while simultaneously opposition parties move in the same direction in a bid to regain the center ground, but the Prime Minister can more adequately speak about seriousness of the challenges faced, then we haven’t even started to understand what “discrediting this great country” or “most dishonest government in modern times” means.

    There has been a global crisis (collapse of western banks), self-inflicted damage (austerity), self-inflicted damage (Brexit), European crisis (invasion of Ukraine), and in the background an increasingly worrying global crisis (climate change) over the past decade plus and a real lack of leadership around the World. Things are currently on way to being even worse in the 2030’s.

    The UK desperately needs to move on from mix of i) politics being a game between old University chums, ii) bad policy choices which are sold as “we’re in it together” or “fix the roof while sun is shining” but in fact the opposite is done and iii) media and opposition only being willing to challenge such behaviour when the by-elections show the public have moved on. This shouldn’t just be about Boris Johnson and the last few months.

  • George Thomas 6th Jul '22 - 10:10am

    Just to make my point above complete…

    Every Prime Minister of my lifetime (Tony Blair, David Cameron/Nick Clegg, Theresa May), with perhaps exception for Gordon Brown who was halfway out the door before even starting, has been more Boris Johnson like than they want to admit this morning.

    Boris Johnson got into power because it’s the way Westminster has been trending for decades. If we make it about past few months only, then we’ve accepted that direction of travel and only delayed another taking it so far again rather than making serious changes.

  • David Evans 6th Jul '22 - 11:05am

    Let’s be honest though George – No-one today in their right mind would ever want to admit they have been more Boris Johnson any morning – mainly because they haven’t been anywhere like him at all. The key difference being, with one possible exception, they were not prepared to continuously destroy ever more of the party they led in order to keep themselves in power.

    Perhaps the closest in living memory is Harold Macmillan and his “Night of the Long Knives” in 1962.

  • Neil James Sandison 7th Jul '22 - 1:21pm

    Voters have short memories .How we present the Liberal Democrats will determine if we retain those voters and if our brand is attractive to new electors integrity and honesty needs to be matched by a modern progressive message on economic reform and climate change .

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