Westminster Palace presents itself as a beacon of respectability. Yet the Ipsos Veracity Index shows only 9% of the public trust its occupants. In reality, behind all the pomp and charade, this venerated institution is packed with stooges, swindlers, and scoundrels.
Recently, for example, Baroness Michelle Mone, a Tory peer, was found to be responsible for securing more than £200m in government contracts for PPE Medpro, a medical company connected to her husband.
The PPE items provided were so shoddy that they could never be used during the pandemic.
Facing a criminal investigation for bribery and fraud, Mone protests that she “wasn’t trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes”. Indeed, it seems that she was happy to pilfer and profiteer in plain sight!
In the House of Commons, meanwhile, the Tories are haemorrhaging MPs as a result of their misdemeanours and scandals, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak having to jettison backbenchers in an effort to cauterise the party’s bleeding wounds.
The Tory leader has removed the whip from MPs like Scott Benton, who was caught offering paid ‘lobbying’ services to fake gambling industry investors. Similarly, Conservative MP Peter Bone was recently recalled by his constituents following allegations of bullying and sexual harassment.
The problem is not confined to the Tories, however. MPs from both sides of the aisle have indulged in perks and privileges associated with their ‘representative’ role. And according to one estimate, 34 MPs have quit or been disciplined over misconduct since the last election.
This shocking statistic has led Sir Chris Bryant, a former chair of the Commons standards committee, to describe this disgraced collection of rogues and reprobates as the “worst parliament in our history by a country mile”.
These ‘honourable’ ladies and gentlemen are rightfully viewed with scorn by those who do not have the connections or wealth to rub shoulders with them in the shadowy corridors of Westminster.
Attempts to reform the rotten relic of bourgeois democracy are futile. To end this entrenched corruption and plunder of the public purse for good, we need to overthrow this entire rotten system.
Tories persecute the homeless: Expropriate the capitalist criminals!
Jack Woodward
On 14 November, with a year of crisis and instability drawing to a close, the Tory government decided to add one final log to the roaring bonfire with the introduction of the Criminal Justice Bill.
As this legislation crawls its way through various House of Commons committees, you would be forgiven for asking what ‘justice’ the Tories are seeking to obtain.
Vile creatures such as Suella Braverman, for example, would have us believe that the most dangerous criminals in Britain are not the gangsters in Downing Street or the City of London, but those who are forced to sleep rough in urban tents every night.
According to the Tories, this homelessness is a ‘lifestyle choice’. Nevermind the role played by predatory, parasitic property owners.
Instead of targeting rogue landlords or capitalists speculators, this new bill focuses on giving the police greater powers to prosecute not only those sleeping on the streets, but anyone who ‘appears to have slept rough’ or who ‘intends to’. Threats include fines of up to £2,500, or one month imprisonment.
Such cruel attacks on the most vulnerable in society are a clear attempt to shift the blame onto the victims of the current housing and rental crisis, and away from the real culprits: the Tories, and the capitalist class of bosses and landlords that they represent.
An estimated 300,000 people in England are homeless. This includes almost 140,000 children, representing an increase of 14% since 2022.
Such horrifying statistics reflect a deepening housing crisis. According to the Office for National Statistics, the ratio of house prices to wages has increased from 4.1 in 2000 to 9.1 in 2021. Meanwhile, rents and utility bills have soared, and wages have stagnated. No wonder so many have been forced to seek shelter in makeshift squats.
This is not merely the result of one or two bad policies, but is the logical conclusion of a system where all our basic needs are a way for the super-rich to make a quick buck; where widespread poverty exists amidst a sea of plenty.
The Tories are waging a war on the homeless. Meanwhile, 68 of the party’s MPs are landlords. They know which side their bread is buttered!
To end homelessness, we must wrestle society’s wealth and resources out of the hands of the bankers and bosses. This includes the almost 600,000 unused homes hoarded by investors and landlords.
On the basis of public, democratic ownership and control, we could embark on a nationwide plan of construction and renovation, in order to provide safe, sustainable, and dignified accommodation to all.
To end homelessness, we need a society run by and for the working class.
