A letter I sent to my Macclesfield MP today
Dear Mr Rutley,
You are my MP (I live at XXXXXXXX) and whilst I did not vote for you, I have no reason to doubt your integrity. Also, I understand that you served as a government whip until recently. You are in a good position to understand the responsibilities shouldered by those who seek to promote the agenda of the parrty in power, whilst serving all of the people of the UK. For some time now, I have had serious concerns about standards in public life in the UK, and the risks a fall in standards poses to democracy in the UK. I intended to write to you over the Owen Patterson case but was distracted by family issues at that time. Looking back to November, there is a worrying pattern from the government in general, and Boris Johnson in particular, that reveals a disregard for the truth and an assumption that rules do not apply to those in power. What has been revealed about parties in Downing Street is truly shocking and the British public is making its views clear. My own eldest son died unexpectedly on 1 July 2021, after 3 weeks in Salford Royal. Fortunately, we were able to visiit him during those 3 weeks. I can only imagine how my grief would have been compounded if his hospital stay had been during a lockdown and we had not seen him. So please don’t underestimate the feelings of people who made huge sacrifices in following the rules for the benefit of all.
Up until yesterday, I assumed that Boris Johnson would either resign or lose a vote of no confidence, either way prompting a leadership election in the Conservative party. I wasn’t feeling vey optimistic about who would replace him but at least he would be gone. And now, it seems that Sue Gray’s report may be turned into a whitewash and who knows how the police investigation will be conducted, given this precedent
When you and other MPs consider what you can do in parliament and in private discussions within your party, I hope you will consider the risks of the loss of public trust. Keeping the Prime Minister and your party in power at all costs is a threat to all of our futures and to democracy.
