After the end of World War 1, as countries across the globe took stock of the calamity that had befallen them, nation after nation made a commitment to honour the dream that so many serving soldiers, sailors and airmen had given their lives for.
As the reasons for the conflict became clearer to ordinary people the phrase ‘Lest we forget’ came to signify not only the millions of lives cut short but also the motivations and political ambitions of those who brought them to war in the first place. Nationalistic pride, a belief in our own mythical, almost mystical superiority and contempt for ‘Johnny foreigner’ bred an arrogance that was at once both isolationist and entitled.
Coupled with the unbridled political ambition of a few key players both in and out of government, the stage was (is) set for a conflict of gargantuan, of epic proportions.
Such was the situation in the run up to August 1914.
On December 23rd I posted a little article pointing out that we still hadn’t seen the promised report on Russian interference in British politics and Conservative party funding. There have been some very serious allegations made, not least about the tory party’s electoral strategy and elements of political espionage and misinformation. So you’d imagine that Boris would be keen to publish the report as he promised.
One commenter on the blog pointed out that Boris couldn’t now publish until after January when a new defence committee would be formed. OK then, thought I – we’ll see it by February.
Well… it’s over a week now since the end of January and still no sign of the document that presumably would clear the conservative party of any wrongdoing. A fact which makes me wonder… what has Boris got to hide?
Last November the government refused to publish its report on the extent of Russian interference in British democracy. The report’s existence but not its content was widely commented upon, leading many of us to speculate about potential implications for the conservative government, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Boris did promise to release the report in all its unredacted glory after the election, claiming bizarrely that to let the British public know the facts before they went to the polls was not in the public interest.
Togetherness: Boris & Vlad
Well the election is over and done. Parliament has returned and the time seems to have come. So where is it, Boris? You’ve had time to renege on your promises about workers’ rights, the minimum wage (which you mistakenly keep referring to as the living wage – a completely different concept), reuniting abandoned children and you even managed to criminalise Roma people simply for being themselves. So how come you can’t manage to publish the document you promised? You’ve had it since 17th October and…
Once again, this sorry excuse for a government seems determined to avoid all scrutiny, not just over the rapidly changing Brexit withdrawal proposals but over just about everything of note. This isn’t democracy, it’s dictatorship in all but name.
Left eye view 