Tories - Bent Beyond Belief

Ah, echoes of the 1990s, when John Major’s constant attempts to “draw a line” under whatever latest sleaze episode had distracted his Government - and further alienated the voters - were equally undermined by yet another sleaze revelation. When the Tories were shot out of power in the 1997 General Election, the economy was improving. That was not the problem.

Nadhim Zahawi

What did for Major was the infighting over Europe - now ready to re-emerge as it becomes clear that Brexit has hobbled the economy - and a combination of that sleaze, plus the view that the Government had run its course. Today, there is no improving economy to fall back on, the sense of staleness has returned, and the sleaze with it. Unremitting sleaze. Corruption. Wickedness.

Partygate was bad enough, and ultimately even the Tories could not tolerate the antics of disgraced former alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson any longer. The inept but mercifully brief interlude of Liz Truss shredded any lingering reputation for economic competence. And now has come Rishi Sunak, already not in control of events a year before polling day.

One event out of his control is the tax affairs of party chair Nadhim Zahawi, about whom the Guardian was told “The Conservative party chair, Nadhim Zahawi, agreed to pay a penalty to HMRC as part of a seven-figure settlement over his tax affairs”. The total amount repaid to HMRC, including the penalty, was estimated at around £5 million. There was more.

“Penalties are applied if someone does not pay the correct tax at the right time. Asked repeatedly about the penalty, Zahawi’s spokesperson did not deny one had been paid. Nor did they offer any explanation or clarification about the sums involved … If Zahawi has paid a penalty, it would be hugely embarrassing, given his previous role as chancellor in charge of the UK’s tax system”. Which has set off a train of further questioning.

Like, did he negotiate the back payment of millions in taxes, plus a penalty, while he was Chancellor of the Exchequer, and therefore the ultimate boss of whoever was calculating the payment and imposing the fine? Tory spokesmen sent out to do today’s media rounds would not answer that one.

What was also not being answered was why Zahawi had issued legal threats against those who covered this story first, not least tax lawyer Dan Neidle, who asked the obvious question yesterday: “If Zahawi just made an innocent mistake and did his civic duty in cleaning it up… why did he threaten to sue people reporting on it? And try to keep those threats secret?”

Bad penny turns up once more

On top of the Zahawi affair, we now have another Bozo affair: the Murdoch Sunday Times, which it seems is not keen on seeing the former PM make a return any time soon, told that “Richard Sharp was involved in arranging a guarantor on a loan of up to £800,000 for Mr Johnson. Mr Sharp said he had ‘simply connected’ people and there was no conflict of interest”.

Except that Sharp was in the running to become BBC Chairman, and after apparently doing that business, Bozo duly gave him the job. The ST added “multimillionaire Canadian businessman Sam Blyth raised with Mr Sharp the idea of acting as Mr Johnson's guarantor for a loan. It is not clear where the loan money came from”. And before the loan was finalised, guess what?

“According to the paper, Mr Sharp, Mr Blyth and Mr Johnson had dinner together at Chequers before the loan was finalised, although they deny the PM's finances were discussed then”. And although the host grilled James Cleverly reasonably thoroughly this morning, the Beeb’s Laura Kuenssberg show did not exactly excel itself when it came to apparent partisanship.

Their “expert panel” consisted of Tesco chair John Allan (maybe not a raving leftie), former Tory leader Iain Duncan Cough, and Rachel Johnson - yes, SisterBozza herself. So a neutered BBC gives an eventually kinder ride to its chair, Zahawi, and Bozo. On top of all the rest: don’t forget Sunak’s US green card and his wife’s non-nom tax status. And Owen Paterson.

And Neil Parish, caught watching porn in the Commons chamber. Twice. And Imran Ahmad Khan, who was Wakefield’s first Tory MP for more than 85 years before being forced out after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 15 year old boy. Like John Major, Sunak is facing a continuing tide of sleaze, and like Major, can do nothing about it as his poll ratings dwindle.

The question, on seeing the Tories sink to 24% in a recent opinion poll, is not “why are they doing so badly”, but rather “who is still prepared to vote for this shower”? They’ve screwed up the economy, impoverished millions of Brits, driven the NHS to the brink of collapse, and showing themselves to be totally out of touch. But they have, generally, enriched Themselves Personally Now.

It is time we had that General Election. And bin the Tories. Hopefully for good.

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