After the fall: Boris Johnson’s legacy

After the fall

Boris Johnson’s premiership came to a stuttering end with many choosing to focus on his eccentric personality and a culture of lies embedded in Downing Street, however, the true extent of his legacy is much longer lasting, writes David Whelan.

Johnson came to power on the back of a pledge that he would ‘get Brexit done’. He benefited from a wariness amongst MPs of Theresa May’s successive attempts to get a deal through Parliament and in the end secured a deal which in hindsight, he had no intention of honouring in full.

The history books will show that Johnson was the Prime Minister that signed the Trade and Co-operation agreement, but almost two years on, the UK’s relationship with the EU is at an alltime low. If efforts, started under Johnson, to domestically alter the trading arrangements agreed by both sides come to fruition, European sanctions – some of which have already begun, including denied access to the multi-billion Horizon Europe programme – and a faltering relationship could stretch for decades to come.

It is not just with the European Commission where historical bonds have been stretched; any country trading with the UK could be forgiven for lacking trust

in any agreement. Meanwhile, the Irish Government’s relationship with Westminster is highly strained and in Northern Ireland, unionism’s early hopes that Johnson would fight their corner have not materialised.

That the DUP have chosen to withdraw from Stormont in an attempt to hold the UK Government to ransom over the Northern Ireland Protocol is one side of an argument that under Johnson’s leadership the union has never been weaker, on the other side the push for Scottish independence has resurged, with proposals on the table for a second referendum in 2023.

Johnson was eventually forced out after it was revealed that he lied about knowing of previous allegations against his Chief Whip. In total, more than 50 members of Johnson’s government resigned in protest of his leadership, including leading members of his cabinet. However, the scandal was the straw that broke the camel’s back rather than the source of all discontent, alongside ‘partygate’, Tory MPs could see that failure to deliver the Brexit Johnson had promised will damage the progress previously made in the ‘red wall’ constituencies in working class parts of England.

While many of these issues have dominated the news agenda in recent months, if not years, they have served to mask an undercurrent of a lurch to the right by the Government and a centralisation of some key powers, enshrined in legislation.

For example, while the media focused on the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Queen’s suspension of Parliament in 2019, on the back of persuasion by Johnson, was unlawful, less attention was given to the fact that Johnson and his peers intended to ‘rebalance’ the relationship between the courts and parliament.

The Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 limited the use of judicial review as an appeal route from tribunals amongst other things and it has now been suggested that the Government intends to go further in the future and make it more difficult for those who have concerns about decisions made by public bodies to bring successful legal challenges against the Government.

The Act plays into another piece of legislation, the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act. With both in place, Parliament no longer has a veto over a Prime Minister’s calling of an election and at the same time, courts will be prevented from questioning the dissolution of parliament. Johnson had hoped to wield the power in calling an election in or before 2024 at a time of his choosing and while it is not a luxury he will enjoy, his successors may benefit.

Another example of the centralisation of power under Johnson is the Elections Act 2002, which requires mandatory voter ID for any future elections. Around 3.5 million people in the UK do not have a passport or driving licence and it is widely recognised that the largest impact will be on the poor and the young – not the Tory voter base. Additionally, the Electoral Commission is to be provided with a new strategy and policy statement by the Cabinet Office, with many questioning the impact on its independence.

The House of Lords, before some minor amendments were made, described The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 as “draconian and antidemocratic”. The Act essentially enhanced police powers to control protests – even straying into levels of noise – and apply even to individuals.

Meanwhile, the Nationality and Borders Act made sweeping changes to the UK asylum system, introducing a two-tier asylum system, and increasing the standard of proof for establishing someone is a refugee.

In Northern Ireland, political opposition could not prevent Johnson’s Government pushing through the controversial Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill through the House of Commons. With no support from any of Northern Ireland’s MPs the bill is expected to face stiff opposition in the House of Lords but the Conservative party’s majority in the Commons is expected to be enough to ensure the bill, which offers a conditional amnesty to those accused of killings and other Troubles-related crimes, gets enacted.

The legislation is not exhaustive of the centralisation of power, take, for example, the decision to deliver Government’s ‘levelling up’ funds centrally, even to the devolved nations.

The Prime Minister’s buccaneering style and unique bravado will come forefront to the mind of most when they think about his premiership and undoubtedly Liz Truss MP will operate in a Johnsonshaped shadow. His legacy however stretches well beyond his public persona.

DUP leader Jeffery Donaldson MP meeting Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Credit: number 10

All-party groups re-established after election

In the absence of a return to a functioning Northern Ireland Assembly post-election, some all-party groups (APGs) have been reestablished. agendaNi outlines those who continue to meet.

In the aftermath of the May 2022 Assembly elections, it is uncertain when or even if a new Executive will be formed. APGs provide a forum by which MLAs and outside organisations and individuals can meet to discuss shared interests in a particular cause or subject.

Membership is limited to MLAs although it is recognised that outside groups are often welcome to attend meetings, as well as to inform and support the groups work.

Notably, however, APGs are not formal assembly groups and do not possess any powers, such as the ability to call witnesses or summon documentation, or formally develop policy.

A register of APGs is compiled and maintained by the Clerk of Standards and is regulated by the Committee on Standards and Privileges.

Membership of APGs is open at any time to all MLAs but a group must at all times include at least 10 MLAs and all three designations at the Assembly must be represented in the membership.

In a new mandate, groups are allowed to continue provided they submit the relevant paperwork within two months of their first meeting. Should they not do so, the group ceases to exist.

According to the Northern Ireland Assembly’s recent records, 40 all-party groups have met since the Assembly election. These groups are: ADHD; Ageing and Older People; Animal Welfare; Arts; Autism; Cancer; Carers; Climate Action; Community Pharmacy; Construction; Country Sports; Cycling; Diabetes; Disability; Domestic and Sexual Violence; Early Education and Childcare; Ethnic Minority Community; Fairtrade; Further and Higher Education; Homelessness; Housing; Learning Disability; Lung Health; Mental Health; Micro and Small Business; Modern Slavery; MS and Neurology; Parental Participation in Education; Press Freedom and Media Sustainability; Preventing Loneliness; Rare Disease; Reducing Harm Related to Gambling; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; Social Enterprise; Sport and Physical Recreation; Suicide Prevention; Terminal Illness; UNSCR 1325, Women, Peace and Security; Visual Impairment; and Women’s Health.

The all-party groups on: Addiction and Dual Diagnosis; Children and Young People; Football; Funerals and Bereavement; and Muscular Dystrophy have not met since the new mandate and will presumably be inactive for the duration of this Assembly.

The two month period to renew all-party groups does not apply to proposed new groups, with one proposal to set up a new APG on Universal Basic Income having been made, which had its first meeting on 6 September, after the summer recess. There will also be a new APG on LGBTQIA+ Equality, which will be chaired by newly-elected Alliance MLA Eóin Tennyson.

Autism

Last meeting: 13/06/2022 Number of 2022 meetings: 1 Chair: Pam Cameron MLA, DUP Vice-chair: Cathal Boylan MLA, Sinn Féin

Carers

Last meeting: 29/06/2022 Number of 2022 meetings: 2 Chair: Colm Gildernew MLA, Sinn Féin Vice-chair: Deborah Erskine MLA, DUP

Construction

Last meeting: 27/06/2022 Number of 2022 meetings: 1 Chair: Patsy McGlone MLA, SDLP Vice-chair: Paul Frew MLA, DUP

Ethnic Minority Community

Last meeting: 29/06/2022 Number of 2022 meetings: 1 Chair: Kate Nicholl MLA, Alliance Party Vice-chair: Steve Aiken MLA, Ulster Unionist Party

Housing

Last meeting: 01/07/2022 Number of 2022 meetings: 1 Chair: Ciara Ferguson MLA, Sinn Féin Vice-chair: Kellie Armstrong MLA, Alliance Party

Press Freedom and Media Sustainability

Last meeting: 30/06/2022 Number of 2022 meetings: 1 Chair: Matthew O’Toole MLA, SDLP Vice-chair: Mike Nesbitt MLA, Ulster Unionist Party

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

Last meeting: 20/06/2022 Number of 2022 meetings: 2 Chair: Steve Aiken MLA, Ulster Unionist Party Vice-chair: Caoimhe Archibald, Sinn Féin

TRADE UNION DESK

The wages of ideology

Holding down wage rises as inflation spirals is a recipe for a recession, which may kill off inflation but will also damage large swathes of the economy in the process, argues the ICTU’s John O’Farrell.

Garret FitzGerald once asked a cabinet meeting of the 1973-77 Fine Gael/ Labour coalition about someone’s proposal, ‘that may very well work in practice, but will it work in theory?’

I am reminded of that quandary by the antics of the Conservative Party, in general, since its pursuit of austerity and debt reduction since 2010 and the search for the perfect Brexit since 2016, and accelerated since the defenestration of Alexander ‘Boris’ Johnson this summer.

When the final two candidates, Truss and Sunak, were asked at a TV debate if the passport chaos at the Port of Dover bore any relation to Brexit and the abolition of freedom of movement, both trilled “No!” like Soviet pioneers being asked if Stalin’s ‘scientific socialism’ was less than perfect.

Tories aren’t supposed to be rigidly ideological. They are supposed to reflect the ‘permanent interests’ of the British ruling classes with something extra for their current donors. The flexibility which has aided their remarkable resilience for 200 years as either the government or the onein-waiting has calcified, in particular since Johnson’s expulsion of its ‘one-nation’ pragmatists in 2019 and the mass infiltration of new members from the farright, in particular UKIP.

Oblivious to the onrushing train of inflation, with energy costs quadrupling, it talks of tax cuts for corporations, scrapping green subsidies and abandoning the European Convention on Human Rights, because Home Office policies towards Afghan asylum seekers aren’t cruel enough.

They offer solutions to take on imaginary enemies within: “What is best described as the left blob, which is now omnipresent in British public life, dominant in the citadels of power, including most of the media (above all the broadcasters), the Civil Service, the NHS, the legal system (including the judiciary), education (especially the universities), social media, most public bodies and private charities. It’s even wheedling its way into boardrooms,” so says that marginalised martyr from his French exile, Andrew Neil.

Added to that list are ‘militant unions’, demanding unreasonable pay claims, and so new laws are being proposed to stymie strikes and industrial action, to match the laws just passed to nudge public demonstrations to illegality.

Except opinion polls show that there is widespread understanding of the case for pay increases which match inflation and support for unions taking the democratic lead from their members who are voting for action for fair pay.

The public understand what Truss and Sunak or their tiny fringe ‘selectorate’ cannot. There is no threat of a wage-price spiral. Energy prices were already increasing as the economy came back to life after lockdowns, to which the war in Ukraine added rocket boosters.

According to the Nevin Economic Research Institute, if we were to heed the advice of those who say that wages must be held down, the impact is that spending and consumption in our economy would contract significantly. Less spend in our local economy means businesses having to close and jobs lost. There is every chance that such a strategy would pull us into a recession. Recessions tend to kill off inflation, but they also tend to kill off vast swathes of our economy in the process.

We have to begin to close the gap between wages and the price level or we risk another more serious economic crisis. Pay restraint is not the responsible reaction to this crisis, in fact it is a strategy that carries enormous risks for our economy. Pay rises did not cause the current wave of inflation and therefore pay restraint will not automatically bring it back into line.

The response to the pandemic showed that when faced with an economic crisis, only government can act to prevent collapse in the economy. There is, as someone said, no alternative.