UNITED KINGDOM: Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation as an MP during the Partygate probe has earned him the label of “coward”, according to Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labour Party.
Johnson made the shocking announcement that he would resign from his position as the MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip, effective immediately, and accused his adversaries of attempting to “drive him out”. He was warned that he risked being expelled from Parliament over this by the House of Commons Privileges Committee.
The MP for Ashton-under-Lyne and deputy leader of the Labour Party has called him a “coward” for his conduct.
Rayner claimed that Johnson has the opportunity to defend himself, go before his constituents, and contest the suspension, but he has chosen not to do so because he is aware of his error.
She continued by saying that he has never expressed regret for what he did to the British people. She said that he had essentially been gaslighting the country and that she thinks he is a disgrace.
Rayner argued that Johnson’s claim that the probe had not been conducted fairly was “tosh”. Former UK PM called the committee a “kangaroo court” and charged Labour MP Harriet Harman with bias.
As per Rayner, the majority of the Privileges Committee’s members are Conservative MPs, and their report is subject to a vote in the Commons, where the Tories currently have a 66-seat majority.
Rayner described it as “absolute rubbish and tosh,” and that it is just another way for Boris Johnson to avoid accepting responsibility for his conduct. She claimed that the former UK Prime Minister believes he can run fast and loose, and that this time it has caught up with him.
She went on to say that he is trying to play the victim when the real victims are the ones he tried to gaslight, those who couldn’t see their relatives during Covid and regrettably died while they were partying in Downing Street.
As per Rayner, Boris Johnson has made the decision to jump rather than face the consequences of his own actions instead of taking responsibility for the results of his own actions. She said that he has tried to place blame on everyone else instead of taking responsibility for his own actions
Rayner claimed on a media portal that Boris Johnson had betrayed the voters who gave him his election victory in 2019 and had demonstrated “no respect for the British public”.
She believes that people trusted him because they believed he was about change and putting them at the centre of decision-making, and he has actually let them down in the most catastrophic way at a time when they needed him the most.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing two by-elections due to Johnson’s resignation, and Nadine Dorries has announced she will leave the Commons without waiting for the next election. Sunak has not yet offered an opinion on Johnson’s suggestion that he was failing to carry out his 2019 election promise.
Also Read: Rishi Sunak Accused of Concealing Ministers’ Deeds During Pandemic
