Having moved to Peebles in 2002, ‘Stooriefit’ Bosco Santimano gives us his own take on what he feels is the hot topic of the day. This week once again it’s Tory sleaze and corruption.
What a roller coaster of a few weeks with sleaze and corruption back on the agenda thanks to the current ruling administration at Westminster. Our very own Tory MP David Mundell voted in the house of commons to protect his corrupt fellow MP Owen Paterson from being suspended. What the Tory party tried to do was not only defend the indefensible but use their majority to bring forward legislation that would allow Owen Paterson to go scot-free and avoid the 30-day suspension handed to him by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and Independent body setup to regulate MP’s conduct and behaviour along with overseeing the Register of Members Financial Interests.
Ex-Environment Secretary Owen Paterson had been facing a 30-day suspension from the Commons after the Standards Committee found he repeatedly used his position as an MP to promote two companies that paid him a combined £112,000 a year. MPs voted on November 3rd on an amendment tabled by Conservative MP Andrea Leadsom. The amendment blocked Owen Paterson’s recommended 30-day suspension from the House of Commons for ‘egregious’ rule breaches. It agreed to instead set up a committee reviewing the Commons standards procedure after Mr Paterson – who denied wrongdoing – branded the process flawed. This was a lie as Owen was given the opportunity to defend himself throughout the process. Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg then decided to undermine our democracy by trying to hijack our parliament once again! Even the right-wing press were appalled and finally took a stand.
What this incident has done is highlighted the ‘second job’ scam run by Tory MP’s that have been using parliamentary access, resources and privileges to make millions for themselves and their family, donors and friends. I have systematically highlighted this in my previous columns. MP Geoffrey Cox was working from a tax haven while working for the government of the British Virgin Islands! Sir Geoffrey has earned more than £5m in his second job since becoming an MP while working part-time for his constituency! The same applies to another Tory MP Natalie Elphicke who once suggested that Marcus Rashford the footballer should stick to his day job while it was revealed that she earns £36,000 as chair of the New Homes Quality Board, an independent watchdog for new-build houses.
It seems nobody really cares, at least here in our own constituency. Like Thatcher in the 80’s, Boris has slammed the final nail in the coffin of the Conservative & Unionist party in the UK. It’s time to get rid of them locally too and make Scotland an Independent nation where we can finally have our own written constitution and laws that will help our new country be equal, prosperous and fair to all.
Published in The Peeblesshire News on Friday 26th November 2021
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