How MP’s Blatantly Flout or Simply Change the Rules to Suit Their Agenda
Abuse of political power comes as no surprise. “They all lie anyway” must be the most commonly heard phrase during any discussion of parliamentary proceedings. However, there’s a certain hypocrisy which seems specific to the Tory party – the kind that saw Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, spend £18,000 on takeaways and then refuse to extend free school meals.
Why is it that the political elite feel that they are not only above the rules but that they are the authors of their own rulebook? Last summer, we saw former Downing Street chief-of-staff, Dominic Cummings, not only flagrantly flaunt the lockdown rules that he wrote but hold a press conference where he and every other senior member of the Conservative party defend him. Not long ago, former health minister Matt Hancock was caught cheating on his wife with one of his aides – not only flouting the same lockdown rules as Cummings but invoking a moral conundrum which hasn’t escaped public scrutiny. Shockingly, Johnson defended him! The mentality of senior government ministers seems to be that of boys in secondary school. Although, unfortunately, I’m not confident that ‘defending your boys’ extends to high-ranking government officials.
In a morbid way, it’s kind of impressive how the Tories (but particularly Johnson) have blundered their way through years of power. How is it not common knowledge that our Prime Minister’s carelessness resulted in the imprisonment of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, an innocent women, currently serving jail time in Iran for spreading “propaganda against the regime”?
We are witnessing a society in tatters as the result of the Tories’ failed austerity experiment; homelessness, child poverty, and foodbank use have all soared since the government first came into power. That’s without even beginning to unravel the shambolic way that Johnson has handled the government’s coronavirus response.
How do they keep getting away with it?
I don’t profess to have all of the answers but I have a pretty good idea about how we’ve ended up here….Politics remained the playground of the upper classes until well into the 19th century, with Thomas Burt being the first MP of a working class background appointed an MP in 1874. Not much has changed since then – 68% of Johnson’s cabinet were privately-educated. How can we feasibly expect a cabinet of ministers who had their rooms cleaned for them for three years whilst attending Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham to admit any culpability for their actions? How could we reasonably expect them to understand how it feels to live in the real world – one in which you unblock your own kitchen drain?
The issue is, when we let the social elite run the country after living a life of privilege and prosperity, they will inevitably forget that there are real-world consequences for their actions. Albeit, consequences which their supporters will undoubtedly jump to defend regardless.
We see over and over that money and power seem to provide exemption cards for accountability – whether that’s the former PM profiting from offshore tax havens, the super-rich creating private islands which mimic the world map off the coast of Dubai, or Johnson flying from London to Cornwall in a private jet for the climate conference at G7.
This is the part where I should present you with a neatly packaged answer to the question of “so…what do we do about it?” This time? I must admit I’m stumped. Politics, in its current climate, will never do exactly what it was intended to – advocate for the good of the people. Instead, it’s all a fun game to the British elite of how to get rich and stay rich – whilst weaving a beautiful web of exactly what the public want to hear.
Am I confident that anything will change? Not particularly. But in the spirit of Johnson’s own feigned and painful optimism, the least we can do is try. Public outcry must extend further than Facebook comments and angry alcohol-fuelled pub chats. Channel your frustration at the government into voting the Tories out (and do your own research instead of believing that the leader of the opposition is a terrorist sympathiser because The Daily Rag told you so.)
All I can say is that – in the words of the Manic Street Preachers – if you tolerate this then your children will be next.
Written by Emily Taylor-Davies
Emily is an English and French undergrad at King's College London and works part-time as French Language ambassador. When she isn't staring into the abyss of Microsoft Teams, Emily loves reading about Art History, fangirling over Virginia Woolf, and discovering cool new coffee shops.
