The ‘baby-faced assassin’ has struck again. William Wragg, the backbench Boris-basher, lobbed another grenade at the door of No. 10 today with his comments at the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee about the tactics being used by the Johnson regime. Wragg, who possesses the name of a septuagenarian but the appearance of an adolescent, claimed that his party’s whips are trying to undermine colleagues opposed to the current leadership.
He told an ashen-faced Steve Barclay that No. 10 staff, special advisers and government ministers had said there would be embarrassing stories released to the press if MPs did not support the Prime Minister. Wragg also claimed No. 10 had threatened to withdraw funding to his and other backbenchers’ constituencies if they did not withdraw their opposition to Johnson – a claim supported by the newly defected Labour MP Christian Wakeford
Among those quick to jump on the bandwagon was, surprise, surprise, Nicola Sturgeon, that purveyor of political ethics. Adopting her most serious face, Sturgeon claimed to be ‘shocked’ by such ‘gravely serious’ allegations of bullying and called for an independent inquiry – presumably one which won’t face accusations of being undermined. Mr S is all for proper process being followed but is the scandal-riddled First Minister really best placed to make such calls?
For Steerpike hasn’t forgotten that it was just 15 months ago that the FDA union, which represents high-ranking UK civil servants, reported it had received ‘more complaints about bullying’ by Scottish government ministers than across all other UK ministerial departments combined. According to Dave Penman, the union’s general secretary, there had been 30 ministerial bullying complaints by workers in five Scottish departments over the past decade.
This compares with only ‘a handful of issues’ raised within other UK and devolved government departments across the FDA’s membership over the same period – a disparity that Penman described as ‘quite extraordinary.’ Let’s remember too the kind of culture presided over by the SNP throughout its 15 years in power which was so repeatedly exposed throughout the shenanigans of the Salmond Inquiry.
Whatever else, Mr S struggles to believe Sturgeon can be ‘shocked’ by such claims.
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