An open letter to MP over No10 party row

Dear Robert Buckland, I am sure that your constituents, me included, would be grateful if you could comment on the following, please...

Were you invited to the alleged party at No 10 on May 20, 2020?

Were you asked for advice on holding the alleged party, in your position as Secretary of State for Justice, at the time?

In any event, do you think that Boris Johnson should resign now (preferably) or when the investigation runs its course? If not, why not?

In addition, I am sure that you will be well aware that there is a move to strip Tony Blair of his knighthood. He was our PM and led our country for over 10 years from 1997 to 2007.

His government(s) did a good job, although it is very regrettable that around 1,000 UK servicemen and women lost their lives, bravely serving their country, in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries during his leadership. However, this must be compared with the 150,000 UK citizens who have died as a result of Covid. This figure should be a lot lower and would be a lot lower if the Government had acted more quickly and more responsibly from the outbreak of the pandemic.

Boris Johnson has been our PM during this time. His 'leadership', especially during the pandemic, has been a disaster. Initially, he claimed that the UK would get off lightly. He then did not attend COBRA meetings. He then took pleasure in shaking hands, dismissing the need for PPE and masks.

He then let advisors (Cummings e.g.) break the rules. He then (allegedly) attended a party in his own back garden at the height of the Covid restrictions. He then claimed to be outraged that another party happened on his premises. People were dying, people were obeying the rules, unable to say a last goodbye to their loved ones, whilst the Tories were partying, having a laugh and utterly cocking a snoot at us ordinary people.

In the circumstances, if Tony Blair is forced to return his knighthood, I trust that you will do the same, as I am sure that Boris (with many more lives on his hands) had much to do with you getting your award.

Steve Cowdry

Saddleback Road

Shaw

Monuments to crime

Allan Woodham writes to oppose the removal of the statues of murderous criminals from British Imperial history. He repeats the argument that this erases history but the argument.

The statue of Edward Colston wasn’t put up to throw a light on the sordid history of Britain’s ruling class around slavery, on which the industrial revolution was based.

The statues were put up to celebrate the murderous individuals they represent.

It is no accident that the politicians most vociferous in their defence of racist monuments also tell us how proud we should be of their history.

It is no accident that the same people oppose school curricula dealing with this history.

When the National Trust made the sensible decision to give information about the history of some properties regarding their financing through slavery or colonialism, those who pretend removing statues removes history, demanded the history being offered by the National Trust itself be removed. It is telling that street interviews by TV companies demonstrated that people who opposed the statue removal tended to know nothing of the people the statues represented, while supporters of removal tended to be well informed about their actual history.

On Allan’s ill-fitting concentration camp analogy: imagine if instead of concentration camp museums it were proposed statues of Heinrich Himmler be placed.

How sick would that be?

Peter Smith

Woodside Avenue

Swindon

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