A Tsunami of Political Problems is Coming

 

A Tsunami of Political Problems is Coming.

          A tsunami of political problems is surging towards the coast of the United Kingdom and Boris Johnson is sitting on the beach watching it come towards us!

Caroline Strafford sets out below some of the problems that need urgent action, in no particular order:

1                    Possibility of Russia invading Ukraine.

2                    Possible sabotage of telecommunication cables on sea-beds by Russia.

3                    Over dominance of China in our trade.

4                    Increase in taxes and National Insurance in the spring.

5                    Oil companies keeping their prices high when world prices have dropped.

6                    Over “greening” of our policies with huge cost implications.

7                    Banning conservatories.

8                    Continued sewage spillage in our rivers.

9                    Dangerous shrinking of our defence forces.

10                Sorting out the NHS from a bureaucratic point of view as it has so many committees about which the general public know nothing and patients still having difficulty

getting face to face appointments.

11                Allowing the UK to have a sensible power storage system and take gas from new field in North Sea and not be reliant on  other countries.

12                Stop the use of motorway hard shoulders as an extra lane.

13                Get all the civil servants back to work in  their offices.

14                Stop statues being pulled down because a few don’t like them and ensuring the police take action.

15                Eliminate illegal immigration by all routes.

16                Position of the country post Brexit.

17                Impact of inflation.

18                Impact of increasing interest rates.

19                Reduction of National Debt.

20                Get the Northern Ireland protocol sorted out.

The Grass roots speak, but will Tory MPs listen?

 

'Absolutely disgusted': grassroots UK Conservatives turning against PM Johnson

By Andrew Macaskill

LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing a revolt by grassroots Conservative supporters who want him to resign after a series of revelations about parties held at his official Downing Street residence during national coronavirus lockdowns.

From the West Midlands to Scotland, party members - who raise funds and rally voters at election time - are turning against a man many of them had admired for his exuberance, unstuffy if sometimes messy style and his championing of Brexit.

John Strafford, 80, chairman of the Campaign for Conservative Democracy, called Johnson the worst prime minister of his lifetime and said the allegations about him attending parties during the worst health crisis in a century showed him to be reckless and irresponsible.

"People are absolutely disgusted by it. It is a sign of the arrogance of the man. The reality is that Boris is a court jester who wants to be king," he told Reuters.

"His greatest failure is that he has no judgment, and judgment is the most important quality for any politician."

Johnson was once the darling of the party's grassroots members who helped secure him a landslide victory in a 2019 election, allowing him to deliver on promises to finally steer Britain out of the European Union. They also applauded last year's rapid rollout of COVID-19 vaccines under his leadership.

'DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED'

But the relationship is rapidly souring under the impact of a steady stream of revelations about Downing Street's apparent flouting of strict lockdown rules.

In the latest twist, one guaranteed to upset Conservative supporters, Johnson's office on Friday had to apologise to Queen Elizabeth after it emerged that staff had partied in Downing Street on the eve of Prince Philip's funeral last year, at a time when mixing indoors was banned. read more

Johnson himself was not present at those parties. However, he apologised to parliament on Wednesday for joining a gathering in the Downing Street garden on May 20, 2020, when Britain was under a strict lockdown.

While grassroots Conservative members cannot oust a leader, their views influence lawmakers and they do vote on which of the final two candidates wins the party's top job in a leadership election.

A senior government official, Sue Gray, is currently investigating the claims about parties held in government buildings during the lockdowns. Her report is expected in the next few weeks.

Johnson's supporters hope the report will stop short of saying whether he knowingly broke any rules or should resign.

But Strafford said that regardless of the report's findings many rank-and-file members had already made up their minds.

He said his group of Conservatives passed a symbolic vote of no-confidence in Johnson last month - before the latest damaging revelations - and his WhatsApp was inundated with messages from party members saying they no longer support the prime minister.

"The only reason they are not resigning their membership is because they want to vote in the leadership election, which is now inevitable," added Strafford.

Pressure among party loyalists is building nationwide.

In the Conservative stronghold of Sutton Coldfield in the West Midlands, the local party association passed a motion on Thursday calling for Johnson to stand down.

Scottish Conservatives have also broken ranks, with their leader Douglas Ross publicly saying Johnson must resign.