RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: First Boris Johnson, Donald Trump and Nicola Sturgeon… Better lawyer-up, Rishi it could be you next!
First Boris, then Trump, now Wee Burney. Who is next? The Old Bill haven’t given Liz Truss a tug yet, but it can only be a matter of time.
Boris got handed a police fine for breaking lockdown rules, over a birthday cake he didn’t eat and a glass of prosecco he didn’t drink. A mere trifle, some might think. But if there had been a trifle, they’d have thrown that at him, too.
As far as his jubilant detractors were concerned, at least it meant he was guilty of something, anything.
The unholy alliance of die-hard Remainers and rogue Conservatives have never forgiven Boris for Brexit. And forcing him from office was never going to be enough to satisfy their blood lust.
Even though he had already suffered the humiliation of having to pay a fixed penalty notice for breaching rules which his Government imposed on the rest of us, his enemies weren’t going to let it end there. Turns out civil servants, implacably opposed to Britain’s departure from the EU, have been sifting through Boris’s work diaries during his time as Prime Minister in search of fresh dirt.
RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Never mind Fizzy Liz Truss, perhaps Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer should lawyer-up now, just to be on the safe side
First Boris, then Trump, now Wee Burney. Who is next? The Old Bill haven’t given Liz Truss a tug yet, but it can only be a matter of time
Bingo! They managed to find a further dozen instances where Johnson allegedly strayed from the Covid guidelines, both in Downing Street and at Chequers, the PM’s country residence.
Alex Chisholm, Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office and close confidant of Rishi Sunak, decided this was compelling evidence of criminal behaviour which must be brought to the urgent attention of Scotland Yard. (Perhaps he called his namesake, Cheerful Charlie Chisholm, the Detective Sergeant from Minder.)
Alex Chisholm also grassed up Boris to the Commons Privileges Committee, the kangaroo court under Hattie Harman which was set up to find him guilty of lying to the House, so he could be suspended and forced to face a by-election.
No wonder Johnson has quit as an MP, claiming to be the victim of a series of stitch-ups. Just because you’re paranoid and all that. They are out to get him. Even though he’s been driven out of frontline politics, for now, the campaign of character assassination and the hunt for incriminating evidence won’t stop.
The anti-Brexit Blob and the insecure Sunak camp are terrified that Boris may still make a comeback one day. Ideally, they’d like to see him behind bars, which is why they keep involving the cops.
These days, it’s not enough to defeat your political opponents. They must be utterly destroyed and, if possible, criminalised. Boris is still one step ahead of the posse, but he’s not out of the woods yet.
In the U.S., the posse has caught up with that other great populist Donald J. Trump. Later today, he will appear in court in Miami on a raft of charges related to his hoarding of classified documents since he left the White House.
This follows the heavy-handed Hollywood-style raid on his Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach, Florida, last summer. Trump had been storing boxes of classified material, which he first denied then refused to hand over.
Boris (pictured in March) got handed a police fine for breaking lockdown rules, over a birthday cake he didn’t eat and a glass of prosecco he didn’t drink
Some of this is not as serious as it sounds. American bureaucrats ‘classify’ just about everything, up to and including what the White House kitchen serves for lunch.
All departing Presidents take confidential material home with them. Biden’s garage in Delaware is full of classified documents. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton used a private server to store thousands of secret emails, then erased files containing them when she was found out.
Neither Biden nor Hillary have faced, or will face, prosecution. But the Democratic-dominated Deep State, under Biden’s Department of Justice, have chosen to throw the book at Bad Orange Man Trump.
Admittedly, Trump’s arrogance plunged him into this mess. His refusal to co-operate with investigators and his failure to get documents declassified gave his enemies the ammunition they sought.
Some of the material said to have been stored insecurely at Mar-a-Lago apparently relates to sensitive military and nuclear secrets. But what do prosecutors think Trump was going to do with this information — leak it to his buddy Little Rocket Man in North Korea?
No, this was a fishing expedition designed to enable a show trial which would bury Trump once and for all. Whatever happens as a result of the hearings which kick off in Miami today, the chances of Trump serving even a day in jail are less than zero. The process, as always, is the punishment.
Ever since he left office, Trump has been the target of zealous prosecutors determined to get him banged up. He’s the target of a House committee accusing him of stirring up the January 6 riot at the Capitol building.
He’s been slapped with civil lawsuits by women claiming he sexually assaulted them back in the dim and distant. And he’s on the radar of every ambitious district attorney out to make a name for himself or herself.
Ever since he left office, Trump has been the target of zealous prosecutors determined to get him banged up (pictured arriving in Miami today)
As Trump put it at the weekend: ‘Every time I fly over a Blue (Democrat) state, I get a subpoena.’
Trump’s travails are admittedly more serious than the low crimes and misdemeanours of which Boris is accused. But they are part and parcel of the same ugly trend towards pursuing political opponents by any means possible long after they’ve left office.
The fate of Presidents and Prime Ministers should be decided by voters, not politically motivated, so-called public servants, or by allegedly independent police officers and prosecutors.
(If the police really are above party politics, how come Boris got handed a fine for not drinking prosecco in No 10, while Keir Starmer escaped scot free despite being caught swigging beer at an after-work gathering in Durham?)
Nor should their fate rest with biased committees, made up of bitter backbenchers, led by partisan party hacks such as Labour grandee Hattie Harman. It remains to be seen whether this witch-hunt will now be abandoned, but I wouldn’t bank on it. Not if there’s a chance of hammering another nail in Boris’s coffin.
Their worst nightmare is that Boris re-emerges, like Glenn Close at the end of Fatal Attraction. Little chance of that happening with Wee Burney, who must have thought she could resume a normal, quiet life when she announced her surprise resignation in February.
At the time she stood down, I predicted she may still face questions over what happened to £600,000 raised for a second independence referendum, which was never held, and a £107,000 loan made to the SNP by her husband, the party’s then chief executive.
‘My best guess is that Taggart and Rebus are already on the case,’ I wrote here. That’s exactly what has occurred. Mystic Uncle Rich strikes again!
Sturgeon (pictured in March) had her collar felt at the weekend and has been released
Since then, the Sturgeon/Murrell home has been raided and turned upside down by CSI:Scotland and the couple have both now been arrested and interviewed by police. Sturgeon had her collar felt at the weekend and has been released. There is, of course, precedent for a Scottish First Minister being pursued by police after leaving office. Alex Salmond was hauled up on sexual harassment charges, of which he was found not guilty.
Perhaps Trump will now flee the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts and hole up at his golf hotel in Turnberry. He might also offer sanctuary to Boris and Wee Burney.
Now she’s taking driving lessons I have visions of her behind the wheel of the £120,000 motorhome — sorry, ‘battlebus’ — paid for by the SNP, at the head of a slow-speed O.J. Simpson-style chase up the M74, followed by a convoy of cop cars, blues-and-twos flashing, with TV helicopters overhead.
Maybe they could take a detour past Loch Ness, which scientists say is in danger of draining because of global warming and may finally lead to Nessie the Loch Ness monster putting in a long-overdue appearance. Meanwhile, all those currently salivating over Boris, Trump and Wee Burney’s post-office legal difficulties care to pause for thought.
If the fashion for hounding ex-leaders is here to stay, then no one is immune. Never mind Fizzy Liz Truss, perhaps Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer should lawyer-up now, just to be on the safe side.
You never know who’s going to be next. And while they’re gloating over Boris, they should be careful what they wish for.
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