MP, Leader of the Labour
Party, addressing the House of Commons in response to
the Prime Minister’s statement on the report, said:
The door of 10 Downing Street is one of the great symbols of our
democracy.
Those who live behind it exercise great power but they do so
knowing their stay is temporary.
Long after they have gone. That door and the democracy it
represents will remain firm and unyielding.
But Britain’s constitution is fragile. It relies on members of
this House and the custodians of Number 10 behaving responsibly,
honestly, and in the interests of the British people.
When our leaders fall short of these standards, this House has a
duty to act.
For months, members opposite have asked the country to wait.
First – for the police investigation, which concluded that this
Prime Minister is the first in our country’s history to have
broken the law in office.
Then – they asked the country to wait for the report and now they need wait no longer.
This report lays bare the rot that under this Prime Minister has
spread in 10 Downing Street. And it provides definitive proof of
how those within that building treated the sacrifices of the
British people with utter contempt.
When the dust settles and the anger subsides this report will
stand as a monument to the hubris and the arrogance of a
government that believed it was one rule for them another rule
for everyone else.
The details are stark. Five months ago the Prime Minister told
this House that “all guidance was followed completely in Number
10.”
Yet we now know he attended events on the 17 December.
At least one of which the police have handed out fines for,
deeming it illegal. And we know on the 18 December an event was
held in which staff drank “excessively”, which others in the
building described as a “party”, and that cleaners were left to
mop up red wine the next day.
On 20 May, as a covid press conference was taking place, one of
his senior officials was told:
“be mindful … cameras are leaving …” [to not walk around] “waving
bottles”.
It is now impossible to defend the Prime Minister’s words to this
House. This is about trust.
Because during that 20 May press conference, the British public
were told “normal life as we know it is a long way off”. But we
now though that wasn’t the case in his Number 10.
Even now, after 126 fines, they still think it is everyone else’s
fault but theirs, they expect others to take the blame, while
they cling on.
They pretend that the Prime Minister has somehow been exonerated.
As if the fact he only broke the law once is worthy of praise.
The truth is they set the bar for his conduct - lower than a
snake’s belly - and now they expect the rest of us to
congratulate him as he stumbles over it.
Number 10 symbolises the principles of public life in this
country – selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability,
openness, honesty, leadership.
But who could read this report and honestly believe the Prime
Minister has upheld them?
The reason the British people have had to endure this farce was
his refusal to admit the truth or do the decent thing when he was
found to have broken the law.
This report was necessary because of what describes as “failures of leadership and judgment”, for
which “senior political leadership”, “must bear responsibility”.
It is that failure of leadership that has now left his government
paralysed in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
The Prime Minister has turned the focus of his government to
saving his own skin. It is utterly shameful.
It is precisely because he cannot lead. That it falls to others
to do so.
I’ve been clear what leadership looks like, I haven’t broken any
rules.
And any attempt to compare a perfectly legal takeaway while
working to this catalogue of criminality, looks even more
ridiculous today.
But if the police decide otherwise, I will do the decent thing.
The public need to know that not all politicians are the same
that not all politicians put themselves above their country -
that honesty, integrity and accountability matter.
Members on the opposite side must now also show leadership.
This Prime Minister is steering the country in the wrong
direction.
They can hide in the backseat, eyes covered, praying for a
miracle.
Or they can act - stop this out of touch, out of control Prime
Minister from driving Britain towards disaster.
We waited for the Report but the country cannot wait any longer.
The values symbolised by the door of Number 10 must be restored.
Members opposite must finally do their bit. They must tell the
current inhabitant - their leader - that this has gone on too
long. That the game is up. That you cannot be a lawmaker and a
lawbreaker. That it’s time to pack his bags.
Only then can the government function again. Only then can the
rot be carved out. Only then can we restore the dignity of that
great office, and the democracy it represents.
