Boris Johnson is going, but the damage to our country is done

Boris Johnson is going, but the Tory government’s ideological attack on public services such as the NHS remains. The lies about parties, sleaze and covering up for sexual predators are exposed. But the lies about 48 new hospitals that helped get the Tories elected remain, and the grand lie that Johnson got the “big calls right” – in the face of 197,635 people with Covid on the death certificate – remains largely unchallenged.

This is the time for opposition politicians and parties to vigorously and vocally expose these lies, to oppose private interests paid exorbitantly to deliver NHS services, to stand up for public services – in health, care, education and transport – and to rebuild morale among the public servants who work for us. Unambiguous messages are needed now to help get rid of this government and to rebuild the publicly provided services we need.
Dr Tony O’Sullivan
Co-chair, Keep Our NHS Public

• These past few days should serve as a lesson as to why we need an effective, elected head of state. In a parliamentary democracy, the prime minister must have the confidence of parliament, yet Boris Johnson illustrated how it is possible to continue without that confidence.

His resignation was forced by political manoeuvres, not by constitutional checks. During this time, there has been uncertainty, speculation and considerable concern about where this was heading and the damage it could do. Yet despite the biggest political crisis for years threatening to blow up into a constitutional crisis, our head of state has remained silent.

It is extraordinary to see some commentators fret that the monarch might be “dragged” into this crisis, or that it might cause her some embarrassment. It is the job of the head of state to get involved in these moments of peril, to steady the ship, offer counsel and, if necessary, take steps to protect and enforce the constitution. That’s not a job that can or will be done by a monarch.
Graham Smith
Chief executive officer, Republic

• Three Tory prime ministers have now been brought down by Brexit. David Cameron allowed the referendum to be held, failed to campaign seriously to remain, and washed his hands of the consequences. Theresa May tried to act as an honest broker and failed to carry parliament with her. And Boris Johnson seemed to champion the cause as much to get one over on Cameron as for any ideological belief. He employed charm and mendacity to dupe the populace into voting to leave (in a close vote). By doing so, and in “getting Brexit done”, he divided the country, threatened the future of the union, and alienated our closest allies and trading partners through his cavalier attitude to the rule of law.

What astonishes me is Keir Starmer’s recent promise to make Brexit work. Brexit was founded on lies and has proved to be the kiss of death to politicians who have flirted with it.
Stuart Handysides
Ware, Hertfordshire

• I was outraged by Boris Johnson’s resignation speech, in which he thanked the British public but disregarded the hundreds of thousands of people from elsewhere, like me, who have for years contributed to the economy, culture and future of the UK with our work, children, tax and national insurance contributions. We do not have the right to vote in parliamentary elections, but that should not make us invisible and unaccounted for.
Prof Marie-Noelle Guillot
Norwich

• I can’t have been the only viewer of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street press conference to be enraged at his self-satisfied reinterpretation of events in the corridors of power, and his self-gratifying defence of his atrocious behaviour and performance. Here we had a masterclass in his entitlement, wherein he calls for us to marvel at his achievements rather than blame him for his many misdeeds.
Suzi Macintyre
Hereford

• Arguably, the worst thing about Boris Johnson’s tenure as prime minister has been his cavalier attitude towards the rule of law. The longer he remained in office, the more he reminded me of a dictator denying reality as he thrashed about seeking to remain in power. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. We must be vigilant to protect the rule of law from any future infractions. It is precious and vital to our way of life.
Michael Heath
Retired circuit judge

• Aditya Chakrabortty (7 July) suggests we should save some of our anger about Boris Johnson for his enablers. Quite so. As a historian specialising in the American west, I remember working out that the opprobrium heaped on George Armstrong Custer for leading troops into disaster at the Battle of the Little Bighorn was quite convenient for those who put him in that position, in full awareness of what he was like.
Chris Smallbone
Sale, Greater Manchester

• Conservatives who try to portray the likely alternative government as a “coalition of chaos” will now find it impossible to portray the record of single-party government since 2015 as stable or competent: three prime ministers, and a fourth to come; cabinet ministers changing jobs every few months; and factions plotting against each other on the backbenches. I would take stable coalition over single-party chaos.
William Wallace
Liberal Democrat, House of Lords

• Now that it seems we may finally be seeing the back of him, please could you publish a comprehensive and definitive list of Boris Johnson’s lies, throughout his career. It could be a special pull-out supplement, or even a wallchart.
Simon Townley
Toddington, Bedfordshire

• So, single-handedly Boris Johnson has brought down the last three prime ministers.
Stu Downs
St Albans, Hertfordshire

• Thank goodness we managed to avoid the “chaos under Corbyn” that Boris Johnson warned us about before the last election.
Steven Peacock
Scarborough, North Yorkshire

• For the first time, I have sympathy for this Tory government. As a carer, I recognise the struggle to remove a two-year-old from a bouncy castle.
Jude Carr
London

• It feels like Christmas morning when I was a child, but instead of asking “Has he been yet?” I’ve been asking “Has he gone yet?”
David McAvoy
Wigan, Greater Manchester

• May I propose a new blue plaque for London, to be installed at the end of Downing Street: “Here Lied Boris Johnson 2019-2022.”
Phil Sinnott
Crosby, Merseyside

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