Sir, – A fib is defined as a small lie which does not cause harm. These are well-worn devices in Boris’s toolkit which have served him well for decades.
A lifelong fibber always becomes a liar where he occupies a place where deceit and deception are common currency.
A trickle of revelations turns into a flood which follows a pattern of denying allegations until undeniable.
Boris has been sacked by The Times, Daily Telegraph and the then leader of the Tory Party, Michael Howard for lying, the latter when he denied having an affair.
People in No 10 have only one source of authority – the PM – as they speak on behalf of the PM.
Corner cutting, exaggeration, half answers to dodging questions is now the norm.
US press agonised over how to deal with Trump’s lies but there has been, up to now, nothing doing like that in this country, so the PM seems to have a licence to fib. Boris’s often quote “global Britain” is focused on his navel.
The Met Police have given him a lifeline, as there are no legal reasons for redactions on Sue Gray’s report – any offences are punished by fixed penalties only.
The officer in charge has stated the inquiry would take no more than a year which is police speak for, it will take a year, so gives Boris lots of breathing space.
He could however, after interview by police, be fined which would put this partygate scandal back in crisis mode.
Gray, in having to keep her powder dry before the full report is issued, will cause more shock for voters.
Boris is utterly unfit to be PM. He cares for nothing but his own fame and gratification.
His agony isn’t over, merely extended – therefore so is ours.
Ian Wallace. Chapman Drive, Carnoustie.
Commons stunt does Blackford no favours
Sir, – I made my mind up last week that Boris has to go.
I nearly changed my mind after watching Ian Blackford’s cynical “Boris is a liar” Commons ejection stunt.
It’s the millionaire “simple crofter” who behaved shamefully to Charles Kennedy who needs to be permanently ejected by the voters.
Allan Sutherland. Willow Row, Stonehaven.
Single transferable vote the way ahead?
Sir, – As someone whose work delivering groceries cannot be done from home, it gives me the opportunity to email letters to newspapers and participate in the BBC Radio Scotland phone-in which I did on Tuesday, which was a day off in any event.
The subject was partygate and whether it was time to draw a line under it or a day of reckoning was needed.
As someone who voted for Scottish independence in 2014, I cannot exactly join them to hurry them up a bit in kicking the backside of Boris Johnson out of Number 10 Downing Street. And while he may indeed, as Kaye Adams said, be my prime minister I am not a Tory backbench MP, like David Duguid who represents Banff and Buchan, and whatever opinions I have don’t really count for much as I cannot do anything about whether the prime minister continues in office or not.
Whether David Duguid continues in his role will be decided by Tory voters in the constituency and not by those like myself who has never voted Tory in my lifetime. The only pro-union political party I have voted for has been the Scottish Liberal Democrats and that was in both 1992 and 1997 respectively at the elections of those years for Menzies Campbell, now Lord Campbell of Pittenweem.
Similarly, while I may be as much part of the union as any unionist, in my opinion, whether political parties such as the Scottish Liberal Democrats or Scottish Labour Party put forward policies in the way of electoral reform, House of Lords reform or abolition, or federalism which I might consider voting for or indeed whether they want me to vote for them in an election is not something I can control either.
What is interesting, in my opinion, is that the single transferable vote is perfectly acceptable for local government elections but neither Labour or the Conservative and Unionist Party have policies for the implementation of such a voting system for either the Scottish Parliament or at a UK general election. Why might that be the case, I wonder?
Peter Ovenstone. Orchard Grove, Peterhead.
Public trust is also a question for SNP
Sir, – In responding to the PM’s statement on Sue Gray’s report, Ian Blackford suggested that the allegations that government members or officials may have been breaking laws that they themselves had made, was part of a “systematic decimation of public trust in this government”.
If that’s the case, the incompetence of the SNP in passing a law to make linked-up smoke alarms mandatory, delaying its implementation by a year and then eventually telling us, the public, that we won’t be penalised for not complying isn’t exactly reassuring either.
Mark Openshaw. Earlswells Road, Cults.
Who would vote for PM branded a liar?
Sir, – The Conservative and Unionist leader in Westminster branded as a liar, the Met Police seen as covering up his lies – it just couldn’t get any worse for those who think being British is something worthy.
What a corrupt bunch these people are – the sad fact is no matter how despicable they are some people will still vote them in, which doesn’t say much for their moral code.
Bryan Auchterlonie. Bluebell Cottage, Perth.
