There are falls and there are falls. We all heard President Biden tripped on a stage sandbag at a graduation, but that sort of fall can happen to anyone; and he “got up quickly and walked back to his seat.”1 However, to “fall from grace” means “to have made a mistake or done something wrong or immoral, and as a result, to have lost power or influence and spoiled your good reputation.” Whereas, to “fall foul of” means “to come into conflict with” – often combined with “the law” or “the truth”; while “fall away” means to break off or fade.2 And then, there are farewells.
Bye, Bye Boris! (“…for now”)
On Friday, June 9, 2023, MP Boris Johnson issued an angry 1,000-word resignation from Parliament. The Privileges Committee concluded that he made misleading statements to Parliament about “Partygate” and would be recommending suspension, thereby risking a byelection. Resigning would allow him to run again – and conceal his speaking fees, whereas suspension could disqualify him. He notably remarked, “It is very sad to be leaving Parliament — at least for now.”3
Falling from Grace from Partygate!
If you missed it while trying to feed yourself or your family since GST was passed in the depths of Covid with our borders closed, “Partygate” refers to “a slew of gatherings in government buildings in 2020 and 2021 that breached pandemic lockdown rules” for which UK Police issued 126 fines, including one to Johnson. That, while tens of thousands of lives were interrupted or lost in the UK, leaving families and loved ones to grieve while the nation was deprived of its freedom and livelihoods. Thus, it is hard to say whether he fell from grace when the scandal was first exposed or following assertions of misleading statements to Parliament upon further investigation.3,4
Falling from Grace by Gracing the Fallen
And, Johnson departed just hours after “knighthood and other honors” were granted – and generated “cries of cronyism” over “more than 40 peerages and other rewards, for some of his closest allies from the time of the Partygate scandal…”3,4
The Guardian reported that Labour party members described the honors as “rewards for those who tried to cover up rule-breaking” and that some Liberal Democrats called them gifts for “Partygate pals” – and “corruption pure and simple”.4
Falling Foul of the Truth in Anguilla!
Boris also visited Anguilla in the wake of Hurricane Irma on September 13, 2017. As Foreign Secretary of State, he was interviewed on Radio Anguilla. He assured us, “The message I want to give everybody is that the UK is here to support you…We are a thousand percent [determined] to show the people of Anguilla that we are committed to them. This is an Overseas Territory and these are British people. As far as we are concerned, this is a responsibility and obligation that we have. It is a balanced partnership and things have to move on.”5 He obviously meant our obligation, not theirs.
So, while most are focused on whether Boris misled Parliament over Partygate, forcing GST on us in exchange for Hurricane Irma “humanitarian aid” meant he also misled the “British people” of Anguilla. We see now that Boris must have told Governor Tim he expected us to “support” ourselves by pushing people into poverty and drowning the morale of the nation under the storm surge of GST. ’Seems Boris might have “fallen foul of” the truth right here!
And Falling Away after Fond Farewells…
As we continue to suffer the indignities and economic storm wrought by the undemocratic passage of GST she oversaw, it was touching to read our last governor’s Anguilla Day remarks: “As I conclude my service to you as your Governor, I would like to thank you all for your warm embrace and for sharing your strength and pride of community with me, as I delivered my duties and obligations as your governor…I gave an oath to serve the people of Anguilla and sought to do this with devoted commitment and care…”6 Aww. Really?
For many who voted, signed petitions, gave testimony, wrote letters, and ultimately marched, having two appointed members override votes of duly elected Ministers – and then signing GST into law within 24 hours was her fall from grace. Sadly, such “duties and obligations” seemed only to serve a charade of constitutional democracy.
And, anyone who “cared” for any of us with “devoted commitment” would have seized that second chance to do the right thing and withdraw assent. When? When the existing taxes exceeded the GST “incremental” goal before July 1, 2022, that is, before it was forced into force.
All we had to do was open the borders to avert the most undemocratic, unjust act of “colonialism on steroids” imposed as penance for our needs after Irma ? and immorally passed in the abyss of a global pandemic. Serving the “people of Anguilla” cannot fall under the rubric of such indifference to the damage done. Clearly, that “devoted commitment” only “served” to ensure that we suffered from the “debt” of disaster aid.
Falling Foul of Fundamentals
In that same 2017 interview, Boris also remarked, “I think the job of the UK is to think in a smart way about how we can do long term things to make this island even more resilient.”5 Sorry, Boris, demoralizing our nation with the cultural atrocity of GST, instead of countless alternatives, fell foul of any “smart way” to achieve resilience, especially for an administering power hoping the UN might soften its classification of its colonies as non-self-governing.
While he inspected the wrath of Hurricane Irma in real time, how could the question of right-sizing a government to enable this economy to build disaster reserves elude him so completely? Did he think there would never be another? Is the concept of financial independence so foreign as to escape our Foreign Secretaries of State? When an administering power is a “thousand percent committed” to “support” one’s overseas “British people,” is impoverishing them for an unsustainable bureaucracy and putting them at risk of natural disasters and global shocks the best of British “good governance”?
As we embark on yet another storm season, all we can hope for is good luck, better days – and better leaders – after fond farewells to Boris and one fulfilling “duties and obligations” to him and not to us. Farewell to both, as they fall away.
Repeal GST – and pass a balanced budget bill. Now!
This article reflects cultural and economic issues raised on July 5, 2021, at the House Select Committee on GST Public Hearing. 1https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-trips-falls-during-graduation-ceremony-recovers-quickly-2023-06-01;/ 2https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/; 3https://www.npr.org/2023/06/09/1181413406/boris-johnson-resigns-parliament-partygate; 4https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jun/09/boris-johnson-resigns-as-mp-with-immediate-effect-over-partygate-report; 5https://theanguillian.com/2017/10/boris-johnson-uk-1000-committed-to-anguilla/; 6“HE the Governor’s Anguilla Day Remarks,” The Anguillian, Vol 25, No. 26; 2 June 2023.
