Author: Nicholas Bird, Journalism Graduate, UK.

Party at Westminster?

If someone was to say to you the words ‘party’ or ‘Westminster’ in very close sentences, you would be forgiven for thinking, ‘ah yes, Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, lawmakers….I know what you mean…’, but you would not be expected to be thinking, ‘ah yes, Christmas parties, cannabis, cocaine, booze, and law breakers.’ Somehow in 21st Century Britain it seems the latter has become a fair synopsis.

Be it ex-health secretary Matt Hancock’s steamy office affair with his lover Gina Colangelo, caught on CCTV, or last year’s Number Ten’s illicit Christmas parties, when everyone else is suffering the sore measures of Covid-19, how on earth are we meant to trust our politicians?

Cocaine in the toilets

To make things worse, a new story has broken claiming the toilets of parliament are rife with cocaine and these are close to the offices of the beloved Prime Minister, Boris Johnson. But it gets worse, we are told in a recent Sunday Times report that there is a ‘cocaine culture’ in Westminster and that ‘ household names’ think they are ‘untouchable’. This is all going on as the PM unveils his plans for a 10 year crackdown on middle class users, with the threat of passports or driving licenses being confiscated if found in possession of illicit substances..

The smack of such two-faced behaviour (pun intended) is unbelievable. I think what makes it more hard hitting is the blatant hypocrisy, one rule for the plebs, one rule for us.

The late David Amess MP

Next year the decent politicians need to fight back. They need to reconnect with the public and prove that they do as they say. I do believe there are many noble politicians out there who are not all out to climb the ranks, but are there to help their constituency and serve those in need. The murder of MP David Amess in October of 2021, helps prove this point. Here we find a politician loved by both sides of the House, who worked in servitude to his constituency and his country. Mr  Amess was happy to be serving quietly at the back of the House, rather than seeking vanity in a ‘household’ name at the front.

The future?

If MPs with the characteristics of the late David Amess are not brought to the forefront and the current decadence is allowed to persist, public trust will absolutely disintegrate. During a pandemic we all have to work together, citizens need to trust their government, especially if the toughest restrictions in a nation’s history need to be enforced. To lose trust, could lead to an absolute breakdown in law and order. More than ever we need our MPs to step up to the plate serving in meekness, rather than vanity and serving their constituency rather than their career.