Queen’s Speech

Lord Taverne Excerpts

Thursday 13th May 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Taverne (LD) [V]]

My Lords, I want to discuss democracy. Our democracy is in danger and very few Conservatives seem to care. It is in danger when we cannot trust our leaders and when voters cannot make fair judgments because government statements may be falsehoods.

In the most outspoken and undiplomatic language that I have ever heard, Sylvie Bermann, the former French Ambassador to London and an ardent anglophile, declared that our Prime Minister is “an inveterate liar”. Every Conservative MP and anyone who accepts that honesty is vital to democracy should read The Assault on Truth by Peter Oborne—as already mentioned, a conservative journalist who voted leave—which lists the catalogue of Johnson’s untruths and broken promises. In Johnson’s first job as a journalist on the Times, he was sacked for inventing stories. When he became an MP and a shadow spokesman, he was sacked for lying about an affair with a female colleague on the Spectator, a charge that he had vehemently denied as

“an inverted pyramid of piffle”.

However, his lack of concern for truth became a vital public concern once he was leader of the leave campaign and then of the Conservative Party. One untrue statement in particular may have influenced the results of the referendum. It was the claim that Turkey was about to enter the European Union, enabling millions of Turks to invade Britain. The claim was widely publicised and believed although there was no possibility of Turkey joining; several EU members had declared that they would veto its application, and Britain could have done so as well. On “Channel 4 News”, Michael Crick challenged Johnson about Vote Leave’s campaign material in the referendum. One poster featured a British passport depicted as an open door alongside the slogan:

“TURKEY (population 76 million) IS JOINING THE EU. Vote Leave”.


Crick suggested that that claim was absurd. Johnson twice stated:

“I didn’t say anything about Turkey in the referendum”.


Not only must he have known as leader what Vote Leave’s message was but in the week before the referendum Johnson, Michael Gove and Gisela Stuart—now the noble Baroness, Lady Stuart—had declared in a joint public letter that

“the only way to avoid having common borders with Turkey is to Vote Leave”.

Johnson solemnly pledged, as we have heard, that no British Prime Minister would ever countenance a border in the Irish Sea and that there would be no checks on trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Both now exist. The DUP feels betrayed, Arlene Foster has lost her job and the survival of the peace agreement may well be threatened.

Perhaps the most dangerous threat to democracy, however, is Johnson’s assault on the independence of the judiciary. The Attorney-General, supposedly guardian of the rule of law, actually declared, presumably with the consent of her boss, that the courts should not be allowed to overrule politicians. She threatened to limit the powers of the Supreme Court. Why? Because it declared illegal Johnson’s attempt to prorogue Parliament. She has threatened to reduce the role of judicial review, one of the most important legal developments to control ultra vires actions by government. Indeed, there is an ominous talk of a Bill

“to defend the judiciary from being drawn into political questions”.

Nowadays, blind loyalty is what pays. When eminent Tories rebelled to rule out a no-deal Brexit they promptly had the Whip withdrawn. On the other hand, a loyal Johnsonite such as Priti Patel can breach the Ministerial Code with impunity even when an independent inquiry finds her guilty of bullying.

Whenever anyone questions Johnson’s integrity, the riposte is, “Look, he wins elections”. That is true, but perhaps we are nearing a tipping point. It may be the Electoral Commission’s investigation into who paid for the renovation of No. 10 or public reaction to the chumocracy and the awarding of lucrative contracts to friends and wealthy donors. The public may grow more intolerant of sleaze; a recent poll found that 37% already think that Johnson is corrupt. As a schoolboy, Johnson said that he would be king of the world. He may yet become the king of sleaze.