Dear John
The government has u-turned!
And in small part, it’s down to
you.
I’m sure you’ve been following the
Government’s sleaze scandal closely; we certainly have.
Our Better Democracy campaign has
kept the pressure up on Government, calling out its flagrant disregard
for the rule of law and democratic principles.
The Government has been backed into
a corner. Where just last week it was attempting to defend Owen
Paterson and silence legitimate criticism of Commons corruption, now
it has been forced to confront the reality of public ire.
The sleaze scandal of recent weeks,
and the Government’s attempts to trample over others to protect
itself, exemplifies the slide into authoritarianism that has been
raising so many red flags in recent months. And it’s catching up with
them.
After U-turning spectacularly,
Boris Johnson has suggested that he wants MPs to go further than
upholding Paterson’s Commons suspension. He has now agreed that MPs
ought to be banned from undertaking second jobs in political advisory
and consultancy.
This extraordinary decision from
Johnson is a credit to you - concerned members of civil society who
have spoken out against clear injustice and corruption. Without your
strength of feeling and determination to campaign, Johnson would never
have taken such a principled stance.
However, this isn’t a full victory.
The MPs with the most lucrative second jobs, such as Geoffrey Cox,
would still be able to continue in their private roles, which are not
specifically centred on political consultancy. This won’t stop Cox
from short-changing his constituents and treating being a public
servant as a nice little side-hustle
There’s so much further to go. So
we must continue to keep putting the pressure on parliament. We’re at
a pivotal juncture with so many anti-democratic bills - so we’re
asking you to work with us to keep the momentum going so that we can
challenge this Government and its sheer lack of principle and win more
small victories, bit by bit.
Best wishes,
Naomi Smith
CEO - Best for Britain
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