#CameronResign: It’s a start, but nowhere near enough
Imagine if David Cameron did resign over his admission that he had profited from his father’s involvement in tax avoidance schemes. For starters it would illustrate the devastating impact of the so called ‘Panama Papers’ on an international level. The Prime Minister would become the second world leader to be brought down by the leaks. It would also illustrate the power of information technology as a means of holding the powerful to account.
What other files lurk in the darkest recesses of hard drives and servers belonging to politicians, corporations and governments? I imagine the revelations will have caused more than a few sleepless nights in penthouse suites and mansions around the globe.
For the Tory Party it would bookend a remarkable few weeks, in which they have been beset by infighting over Europe and over the thorny issue of who should ‘carry-the-can’ for the governments naked, class based politics. We have seen Cameron and Johnson trade thinly veiled blows on the referendum. This was then swiftly followed by Iain Duncan-Smith, the psychopath who found a conscience, just when his policies of robbing the poor and vulnerable became unpopular, stabbing his masters in the back as he walked out of the cabinet. No wonder Dave needed some time off to think.
We’ve also seen the Chancellor’s economic policy completely unravel, with figures indicating that the country’s current account deficit is the worst since records began. Then there’s Steel. While the Business secretary was living it up in Australia with his daughter, a board meeting in Mumbai was briefing the press that it was pulling the plug on the UK’s Steel Industry, putting 40,000 jobs at risk. Apparently the Minister had known the meeting was going ahead, but fancied an antipodean junket instead.
I won’t even mention the mess Jeremy Hunt has made of the NHS and the damaging dispute he has engineered with junior doctors. Oops I just did. I’m not sorry.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying Tory discomfort. It is, in my view, no less than they deserve. Their policies and programme are designed to serve a tiny few, in who’s interests they govern. My despair at seeing them elected last May, is matched only by my joy at the sight of a red faced Cameron, puce and frothing at the mouth because his henchmen in the media have turned on him, albeit belatedly. Et tu Rupert?
While we are at it, let’s not be taken in by the media’s recent conversions and sanctimony. They’ve always been fans of bandwagon jumping and they’ll ditch this one as soon as the next one comes along.
I want to see Cameron resign, because he should. He has lied by omission, misled the public and been categorically exposed as a hypocrite. He is clearly not fit to hold high office. However, I could legitimately ask, who amongst the Tory ranks is? IDS, the architect of the bedroom tax? Osborne the failed Chancellor? Johnson the gaffe ridden buffoon, star of so many ‘car crash’ interviews? Theresa ‘I’d send ’em back if it wasn’t for those pesky rules’ May? Or Stephen, I’m being sued by my constituents, Crabb? If this isn’t a who’s who of failure I’m not sure what is.
So yes, it would be great to see the Prime Minster forced out of Downing Street by his own evasions. It would cement the impression of a government in crisis. Can anyone remember two cabinet ministers (included the one in charge) resigning in a matter of weeks? It would be unprecedented. It would also show the value of an opposition that actually campaigns and, erm what’s the word? Oh yes, that’s it, opposes the government instead of abstaining.
It might be legitimately argued that the crisis in the Conservative Party is self inflicted. It largely is, but I can’t imagine previous Labour front-benches going after them the way Corbyn and McDonnell have. It has been a joy to behold and it has increased pressure on an already beleaguered government.
Whether it be the ‘Trade Union Bill’, tax-credit cuts, tampon-tax, IDS resignation, Tata Steel or tax evasion; The Labour front bench have been relentless. Even Sky News and the Murdoch print press were forced to grudgingly admit that Corbyn and his team had “got their act together”, before going on to say the equivalent of ‘that’s enough now don’t push your luck’.
There are so many reasons why we should be pressing for the Prime Minister to resign, but it can’t stop there. This is not an issue of individuals, instead Cameron simply sits atop a bankrupt ideology that is slowly being seen for what it is by the public.
Unless we rid ourselves of the entire edifice, that same ideology will continue to churn out it’s vicious policies. The poorest will continue to pay for the failings of millionaire bankers, the health service will still be stripped bare and our school’s sold off to the highest bidder. Cameron must go, but so should the rest of them. Mere window dressing is nowhere near enough.
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Ramblings of an Ordinary Man 