Who emerges worst from the 'awful pantomime' of the Partygate vote, James O'Brien wonders

20 June 2023, 13:10

James O'Brien on the pantomime of Partygate vote and Bob Seely being caught out

By Phoebe Dampare Osei

After several Conservative MPs abstained from voting for or against the Privileges Committee Partygate report, James O'Brien asked his listeners who came out worst in the whole saga.

"Who are the worst characters in this awful pantomime?" James O'Brien asked, jabbing at Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, "a truly ridiculous figure, wearing a kangaroo tie because it's a 'kangaroo court' you see".

He felt that Rishi Sunak came out of it "worst", because of his no-show, and demanded to know why.

"There is absolutely no way on earth that Rishi Sunak couldn't have voted if he wanted to...he chose not to vote", he said, adding: "I think it's too easy and too obvious to say [that it's] because he's a cowardly custard."

READ MORE: Rishi Sunak accused of having 'no backbone' and showing 'cowardice' for abstaining from Partygate vote

"What do you think about having a Prime Minister who bottled this?" James asked his listeners.

"He ducked it! It was only a week ago he was claiming 'tough'", he continued, recalling how the Prime Minister said he "wasn't prepared" to overrule the House of Lords Appointments Commission, or make promises about which of Boris Johnson's allies would obtain a seat there.

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James then labelled the MP for the Isle of Wight, Bob Seely, as an "early contender for the worst character in this whole pantomime".

He played two clips - one of the MP denying Victoria Derbyshire's point that he had called the Privileges Committee a "kangaroo court", and another of him saying those exact words, which Boris Johnson had also used in his resignation letter.

James, now amused, said: "That is so illustrative of what Johnson does to people...if you defend the indefensible, you end up bent double, but rarely does anybody bend themselves quite as double as Bob Seely did last night."

"He had his pants pulled down live on national television, in a way that if he was a Labour MP, it would haunt him for the rest of his life", James added.

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