A GREEN party councillor is calling for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to resign, and is urging Reading West MP Alok Sharma to back his stance.
This week saw the publication of an interim statement from senior civil servant Sue Gray into a number of parties held at 10 Downing Street during the covid pandemic.
Several of these are currently being investigated by the Metropolitan Police, so the full report has yet to be published.
However, it does point to “failures of leadership and judgment” and “serious failings”.
Cllr Jamie Whitham, who represents Redlands ward, says that with Boris Johnson accused of lying to Parliament over the numerous parties, it is past the time that he should resign.
“Boris Johnson’s desperate attempts to cling onto power are making a mockery of our democracy,” he said.
“The vast majority of people now think he should resign because of his shameful behaviour, and yet our local MP Alok Sharma has been curiously silent on the matter.
“The voters of Reading deserve to know what Mr Sharma thinks of the Prime Minister’s behaviour.”
He felt that Boris Johnson had shown failure of leadership over the issue, which is “not only damaging trust in public health measures, but allowing other very urgent issues that are spiralling out of control to be neglected, including the cost of living, potential war in Ukraine, and the climate crisis.”
“For the good of the country Johnson must go, and I find it deeply worrying that Mr Sharma appears to be placing a misguided party loyalty ahead of the interests of Reading and the nation.”
Cllr Whitham’s calls follow on from similar calls made last month by Cllr Graeme Hoskin, Labour’s lead councillor for health on Reading Borough Council.
“In 2020, 224 Reading people died from coronavirus,” he said. “We now know that at the same time Boris Johnson, his wife and team enjoyed lockdown-busting boozy parties at No 10.”
He added: “I am calling on Alok Sharma, Conservative MP for Reading West, to join me in condemning this disgusting behaviour, in demanding a full and honest account of what happened, and in calling for an apology to every single one of us in Reading who has suffered over these last two years.”
Reading West MP Mr Sharma has not commented publicly since a tweet on January 12, which read: “The Prime Minister was right to apologise. We now need to let Sue Gray complete her investigation.”
Reading East MP Matt Rodda has already shared his concerns over partygate, saying the government had let people down.
“People are really very annoyed with Boris Johnson and Conservative sleaze,” he said.
The Green Party in Reading feel that replacing Boris Johnson is also a risk.
“We should be under no illusion that just getting rid of Boris Johnson will fix the culture of hypocrisy and entitlement that has taken hold in our political system,” Cllr Whitham said.
“I am worried that we will end up with one charlatan replacing another.
“Whoever is our next Prime Minister should be subject to rigorous scrutiny. They should not, like Boris Johnson and his colleagues, apparently see no problem in lying to the public and to other MPs.”
Alok Sharma’s office has been contacted for a comment.
