BRITAIN

Conservative sleaze compound UK govt's problems

BRITAIN-POLITICS/CULTURE Britain's Secretary of State for Defence Sir Michael Fallon addresses the Conservative Party conference in Manchester | Reuters

The “dam has broken” said one of their own leaders, the feisty Scotswoman Ruth Davidson. The pro-Conservative Daily Telegraph suggested it would be no bad lesson if the government collapsed. It humorously added—referring to the resignation of the Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who was close to Prime Minister Theresa May—“cabinet ministers do not and should not resign over a knee fondle that took place a full five years before the invention of the iPhone".

A “sleaze spreadsheet” has been swirling around Westminster—the hub of parliamentary politics in London—for at least a week. But what has appeared in the public domain is a redacted list of alleged culprits. This correspondent now has is an un-redacted dossier, which if correct, could conceivably dismantle the May government. In it, 40 Conservative ministers and MPs are named as having violated accepted standards of behaviour. They reflect both heterosexual and homosexual misdemeanours.

As the Telegraph surmised, fondling of knees was probably not the cause of Fallon biting the dust. The un-redacted document gives other reasons. He has since stepping down, been accused by a cabinet colleague, Andrea Leadsom, of making a lewd remark to her. “Cold hands? I know where you can put them to warm them up,” he is alleged to have stated. This is said to have occurred six years ago. Fallon has denied it. 

If the top four portfolios in a government are home, foreign affairs, finance and defence, the man carrying one of the responsibilities has obviously quit. But two others in the power quartet are mentioned in the un-redacted list. One of them is reported to have a non-disclosure agreement with a woman researcher. The other is deemed to have a “workplace relationship” with a person.

As the guessing game gripped the corridors of the British Houses of Parliament, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson dismissed insinuation he might be involved in anything untoward. 

Interestingly, there are three women in the spreadsheet, including two cabinet ministers. About one, the comment was “fornicated with male researcher”. A female minister of state was described as being “inappropriate with male MPs after and pre-divorce”.

The pressure on the government would have been greater, but for the lifeline provided by the opposition Labour party. One of its MPs, Kelvin Hopkins, 76, allegedly harassed a party activist three years ago. The accuser, Ava Etemadzadeh, 27, said he had texted her inappropriately and also made inappropriate physical contact while hugging her. Hopkins has been suspended pending an investigation. 

But even after he had been reprimanded by the party when the matter came to light, he was promoted to Labour’s front bench as a shadow spokesman. The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has strenuously avoided answering questions from reporters about Hopkins’ elevation. 

Britain is in the midst of one of the toughest phases in its modern history. A stable and well established 44 year membership of the European Union is being torn asunder with nothing on the horizon to replace the benefits. Talk of free trade agreements with the United States, China, India, Australia, Canada and New Zealand and a Commonwealth-wide preferential trading arrangement is as yet bravado and would at best be time consuming to accomplish. A bad deal or no deal with the EU, especially on market access, would be disastrous.

The EU insists the two sides must reach agreement on (a) how to maintain a soft border between Northern Ireland (which is a part of Britain) and the Republic of Ireland, (b) EU nationals remaining in Britain after Brexit and (c) the United Kingdom compensating the EU for the long term financial commitments it previously made or paying a “divorce bill” before Christmas in order to start negotiations on the trading aspect, which Whitehall is anxious to commence. 

With the British cabinet is sharply divided between leavers and remainers, neither the UK public nor the EU presently exude confidence about a satisfactory outcome. The acid test is scheduled to come when Brexit Secretary David Davies presents a package to parliament in early 2019. Labour’s shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, told Indian journalists her party will vote against a bad deal or no deal. If anti-Brexit Conservative MPs do the same, the government could be defeated, which will mean an immediate mid-term election and probably a Labour victory.

In any case, since May gambled and lost her majority in this year’s snap poll, opinion surveys have tended to favour Labour. This has now been compounded by public disgust over Conservative sleaze. It is quite reminiscent of 1997.

London-based Ashis Ray is the longest serving Indian foreign correspondent. 

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