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Monday, January 17, 2022

My Letter to Harriett Baldwin, Tory MP

Dear Harriett Baldwin,

I am writing to you as your constituent. I struggle to give adequate expression to the outrage I feel at the hideous abuse this whole country has been subjected to by the over-entitled, lazy, egotistical, brazenly deceitful Boris Johnson.

To make things worse, Conservative MPs hiding behind the Sue Gray 'investigation' are rubbing salt into a very painful wound. Pretending that anything will come of it, or that this deplorable PM is capable of change or has any desire for it, is a shameless insult to our intelligence. It doesn't take genius to know that Sue Gray's work is done, because the truth is already out. Boris Johnson broke the law and lied about it. The only investigation needed now is by the Met Police. Who have backed right away despite having fined people £12,000 for lesser infractions! Where is the justice in that? 

Sir Keir Starmer asked the PM if he thought the British people were stupid. The answer to that is clear. And obviously a slew of Conservative MPs and the Met think we are too. Kudos to the Conservative MPs who have chosen not to hide behind Ms Gray and have called for Johnson’s resignation.

But because they’re in the minority, he has been given the opportunity of foisting all responsibility onto staff members (who relied on him for their jobs) and playing a version of Wag the Dog by proposing right wing policies that are headline-grabbing, especially for the ilk of the Daily Mail. All he's doing is trying to save his own skin. Apart from the disgracefulness of it, it’s the height of stupidity for the PM to throw people who have been loyal to him to the wolves and for the Party to let him get away with it, staining Conservative reputation so badly one wonders if it will ever recover, eroded as it already is.

Accountability is a core feature of integrity. The Conservative Party sold its own, along with its soul, long ago when it chose Boris Johnson, despite it being common knowledge that his character was highly questionable and that he was clearly unfit to lead. It was public knowledge at the time of his selection that he was a self-indulgent narcissist with no respect for truth or other human beings, and had been so since he was young.

We’ve all suffered horrifically because of that choice and the Party is now established as being riddled with corruption. Well, who could have predicted that? The world looks on us with disparagement, distaste and absolute disgust, much as it looked on the US under Donald Trump.

I hope you will take this seriously. I want to believe that you have regard for integrity and truth and an understanding of how vital those qualities are in any human being, let alone a government. Enough pretense. Enough dancing around Sue Gray. The truth needs to be acknowledged and Boris Johnson needs to be booted out. As your constituent I need to know that you will send in your no-confidence letter to the 1922 Committee and show us that you care in a real way about the people you have the high honour of representing in Parliament
.

Yours,
Jennifer Stewart