The crisis that is now engulfing the government is increasing, with no plan if EU negotiations fail and the UK must walk away with no deal and a significant policy U-turn. The Conservative leader and Prime Minister does not have a real mandate to lead her party, let alone the country. Referring to the Blair/Brown era, this is the same and just like then she is resisting calls for an early general election despite the likelihood of an increased majority in parliament.
The latest issue to strike the government is the Electoral Commission’s investigation over their election spending.
The Tory election fraud has been a yearlong endeavour since Channel 4 first started their investigations.
The Conservative election scandal
The Conservatives were fined £70,000 for not declaring around £114,000 in expenses during the 2015 general election and other by-elections. The party itself have taken the line that this was just an error and it is common for parties to declare to the Electoral Commission any discrepancies after general elections have taken place. They have also said that they have been cooperative and worked with police.
However, the election fraud from the Conservatives raises some serious questions. If you break down what has happened since the story first broke, there was a clear agenda to stop authorities from investigating this further.
With the party blocking them at every corner. After the Electoral Commission repeatedly asked them for their records, the Conservatives continuously denied them access and it was not until the High Court ordered them, that they would hand over the documents.
The uncomfortable truth
Irrespective of the outcome of the investigation it underlines the issue that the Conservatives are simply untrustworthy with the UK economy and social welfare.
There are several perspectives to see this from. Firstly, there is a clear argument that if the party that wins power does so through illegal means, can you trust them to follow democratic processes whilst in power? Trust them to implement the best policies for the country and the wider world?
But if this is as they say, a simple bookkeeping error, does this inspire confidence in a more complex economic system?
If a party does not have the competence to keep their own expenses in line, how can they can balance the books of a complex social and economic model of government? The scandal raises significantly more questions than answers. The uncomfortable truth is that we have either a corrupt or incompetent government.
