Don’t Look Back for the Future.

As the dust from the Truss resignation settles, the power-hungry vultures have begun to circle. Rishi Sunak, Truss’s previous leadership rival, swiftly emerged as a possible candidate, as did Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt. But then another name began to dominate the discussion: Boris Johnson.

Despite not declaring his intention to run, dozens of MPs have gone on the record to back him. Energy minister Jacob Rees-Mogg went as far as to tweet his support with the hashtag “BorisOrBust”.

Surely not the Boris Johnson that was thrown out in disgrace just weeks before as his ministers resigned en masse, citing the Partygate scandal and his bungled handling of a sexual misconduct complaint against MP Chris Pincher among their reasons?

Surely not the Boris Johnson that saw fit to lock us all in our houses and cause a massive spike in mental health issues?

Surely not the Boris Johnson who partied away in the gardens of Number 10 while the rest of us had to decide who we could allow at funerals and weddings were cancelled?

Surely not the Boris Johnson that stood by as Matt Hancock filled the pockets and bank accounts of his friends with billions of pounds of taxpayers’ money to produce PPE that was often not fit for purpose, then emptied hospitals of their patients and deprived cancer sufferers of the chance to get even a diagnosis?

Surely not the Boris Johnson that took children out of schools and left millions with a developmental deficit that is being felt to this day after a botched attempt to “estimate” grades?

Surely not the Boris Johnson that botched Brexit, meaning Northern Ireland is left in No-man's-land, fish in our waters are still being hoovered up by huge foreign trawlers, illegal migrants land on our beaches in their thousands and a US trade deal was not done whilst President Trump was favourable to one.

Surely not the Boris Johnson that printed money like it had never been printed before, paying people to stay home for a plague with the same fatality rate as influenza, thus being responsible for the massive inflation that is in full flow now and killing through extreme poverty?

So “Hasta la vista” Boris, don’t come back.

Martin Day – Party Secretary