IT should come as a surprise to no one that a Conservative party led by a serial liar, shyster and opportunist with a sense of entitlement as wide as the gap between the sunlit uplands promises of the Brexiters and what they have actually delivered should be a party very much in the image of Boris Johnson – a party of lies, deceit, corruption and sleaze.
The events of last week surrounding the paid lobbying activities of former minister Owen Paterson were shocking even by the standards of a Government whose contempt for democracy and decency in public office has plumbed hitherto unknown depths.
Johnson and his cronies attempted to retrospectively rewrite the rules which saw Paterson sanctioned for his sleazy paid lobbying and to abolish independent scrutiny of MPs' behaviour and their financial probity in office in order to replace it with a grubby sham committee with an in-built Conservative majority to be chaired by a Conservative MP for whom the Prime Minister’s wife once worked.
READ MORE: Police asked to investigate Tory ‘cash for honours’ scandal
It was breathtaking in its cynical contempt and was obviously designed to ensure that Johnson would never have to answer for his own sleazy and corrupt activities.
It was abundantly clear that the Conservatives were not acting in the public interest but rather were engaging in a blatant attempt to ensure that their party would never be held to account for the misdeeds of its MPs.
The measure which Jacob Rees-Mogg and Andrea Leadsom put forward apparently originated in Downing Street and would have set up the Conservatives as the investigating authority, judge and jury where there were allegations of Conservative sleaze and corruption.
According to credible reports, Conservative MPs were put under intense pressure which came directly from Downing Steet to vote through a measure which couldn't have been a more obvious attempt to trash standards of behaviour in public office if those presenting it to the House of Commons were exposing their behinds and defecating on the Speaker's chair.
READ MORE: Pete Wishart: Sleaze-ridden Tory government believes rules don't apply to them
It took less than 24 hours for the Government to be forced into a U-turn, faced with a chorus of outrage even from the normally loyal right-wing press. The episode has left those Scottish Conservative MPs who voted for the scheme – Andrew Bowie, David Duguid, John Lamont and David Mundell – with some very serious questions to answer, questions which BBC Scotland will be doorstepping them about as we speak. Oh. Wait.
Over the weekend we learned another reason why the Conservatives are so keen to neuter any independent scrutiny of their activities. According to an investigation by openDemocracy, the Conservatives are giving peerages to wealthy businesspeople who bankroll the party. A former Conservative Party chairman told The Sunday Times: "Once you pay your £3 million, you get your peerage."
If swanning about in ermine robes, claiming £300 a day in expenses, getting to influence legislation and public policy with no democratic accountability, and giving yourself a fancy title, appeals to you, it appears that the price of a peerage is a mere £3 million, or you could do what Ruth Davidson did and sell your soul.
Over the past 11 years, 22 of the biggest donors to the Tory party have been given peerages. In total, they have donated £54 million to the party.
OpenDemocracy has calculated that the odds of so many many donors getting peerages are equivalent to entering the National Lottery 12 times in a row – and winning the jackpot every time. Not only is the Conservative party corrupt, but it can't be bothered to disguise its corruption. Instead, it seeks to neuter any independent regulation so it can be openly corrupt.
This piece is an extract from today's REAL Scottish Politics newsletter, which is emailed out at 7pm every weekday with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from the Wee Ginger Dug.
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