Thursday 19th August 2021
Tory MP Sir Desmond Swayne has previous form for saying idiotic things, whether they be in the House of Commons or in interviews. However, his ugly intervention to the Leader of the Opposition's speech on the Afghan crisis must surely be sufficient for his constituents to realise he does not best serve their interests.
Interrupting the Labour leader, Swayne said: "Were the government of this kingdom to be overthrown by a wicked and brutal regime, I venture that he would want a leading role in the resistance, he wouldn’t be queuing at the airport would he?"
There were audible gasps and shouts of 'shame' at his vulgar comments, but as yet there appears to be no apology. As far as I can tell, there's been no rebuke from the Prime Minister or Swayne's Tory colleagues.
Some might suggest that the Swine (it's far more suiting without the 'a' an replacing the 'y' with an 'i') has credibility for having completed a six month tour of Iraq as a Major in the Territorial Army, but such comments would be considered vile and inexcusable no matter who had said them; and I'm pretty sure that more senior officers in the British Army would be equally aghast at the ignorance of Swine's comments.
Not all Tories demonstrate the ugliness of the Swine from the New Forest; the Member of Parliament for Tonbridge and Malling, Tom Tugendhat, spoke passionately about suffering “anger, grief and rage” as he witnessed the country falling to the Taliban.
Mr Tugendhat spoke with courage and conviction and I would hope that Swine will reflect on his comments, apologise to the House and to the people of Afghanistan and, perhaps, ask Tom for guidance about how to behave in public office.
In the meantime, I hope that the people of the New Forest and, in particular, those in his constituency of New Forest West, recognise just how Swine is failing them and take the opportunity to elect a more liberal minded, decent politician at the earliest opportunity.
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