I think it is telling that no Conservative member contributed to the debate itself. Also, most of those contributing were members from Welsh and Scottish constituencies who have many constituents that are actively pushing for their respective nations to leave the UK altogether.
The response from Alex Burghart, the cabinet secretary is, frankly, astonishing. He is pretty much saying that members of parliament should be allowed to tell explicit lies (as opposed to expressing an opinion) without fear of censure or reprisal. His comments about rich individuals being able to shut down debate rather glosses over the fact that rich individuals currently pay large amounts of money to MPs to actively lie on their behalf.
They donât seem to appreciate why so many people have utter contempt for politicians.
I wonder where the boundary is between activity that is permitted and activity that isnât.
EDIT: That was not a facetious statement, because as much as people like to shit on lawyers, they are useful for trying to determine boundaries for things like this. It sounds as though the government doesnât care about legalities in this case though, just pandering to the race to prove that theyâre stricter on anti-Semitism. Oddly enough, very little mention about protections for Muslims.
The BBC article on this also mentions a Conservative MP in their 50s who was arrested in May 2022, on similar charges, but doesnât say anything about where they were arrested.
In any case, I havenât seen it reported anywhere that the MP in this case is aged 60, just in their 60s.
Iâm sure he is confident there will be no charge. The criminal justice system his government has broken canât be bothering with trivial crimes like rape.
Well he volunteered the information to the BBC. Itâs always possible that he has been set up. It wouldnât be the first time this has happened to gay Tory MPs.
Justice has to be rigorously applied here. Rape is unbelievably serious, shot at dawn in my book. The colour of the guilty partyâs stripes are irrelevant.
We both agree that rape is a serious crime worthy of harsh punishment.
We also know that cuts in the past thirteen years to both the police and the criminal justice system have left both struggling, and the resources to investigate crimes such as rape are incredibly stretched. Only 5% of rape allegations now see trial.
This is why Crispin Blunt can say he is confident that no charges will be brought (and again, he isnât saying he is innocent). He is, in all likelihood right, and that before we bring his connections, wealth and influence to bear.
By the way, at what point does Parliament acknowledge that it has a serious cultural problem with sexual assault. If Parliament were a normal workplace it would be closed down.