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It’s No Longer About ConservatismIt’s About Lawlessness and Power
BeLeave whistleblower Shahmir Sanni explains how the Vote Leave Government is now wedded to breaking the law in order to achieve its political goals
It is in the middle of a global healthcare, economic and social crisis that we find the most catastrophic elements of mankind – but also their most beautiful. It is in times like these that great change happens. Sometimes it is good and sometimes it is bad.
We are all too familiar with how Conservative governments work – from the miners’ strikes in the 1980s to austerity and now Brexit, we have seen who they are and where their values lie. They have, for much of the time, justified their moral ineptitude under the guise of economic sensibility, and quite successfully so. But this is no longer the case.
The Conservatives are not thinking in terms of the economic sustainability for which they are so famously supported by the moderate right and small ‘c’ conservatives – but entirely in terms of maintaining political power. And that is where the political and cultural crisis in Britain is at its precipice.
One parliamentarian declaring in the House of Commons that the Government breaking international law over its U-turn on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement is a possibility isn’t just one parliamentarian’s silly mistake. It isn’t just his word. It is an echoing of the collective sentiment of this Vote Leave Government and Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party.
No Time to Turn a Blind Eye
I risked my life, livelihood and everything in between to expose the deep-rooted corruption of Brexit as well as the entire Conservative establishment.
When I went public with how the Vote Leave campaign broke electoral law during the 2016 EU Referendum – by donating funds to youth group, BeLeave, which were actually funnelled to its data and ad-targeting firm AggregateIQ – they outed me and, together with the BBC, the entire establishment worked to silence me. I had moments in which I had to remind myself that I wasn’t crazy because of how vicious it all became.
I saw Dominic Cummings and his executive team being removed from data drives. I had participants of these acts cry in front of me about how the unlawful activities were breaking them. I personally heard them talk about it over and over again – only to then be met by racism, homophobia and the incredible power of white supremacy and political violence when I spoke out. To simply bring to light acts of unlawfulness.
They broke the law.
Even progressives stayed away from the evidence because they knew the scale of corruption would render them hopeless. It was scary – not just for me, but for all those who supported and didn’t support me. Because if we cannot trust our own Government, how are we to trust our own livelihoods and safety?
It is time we choose bravery and unapologetic opposition to anyone that supports this Conservative Party and its Government. Small ‘c’ conservatives and moderates have only two options: to side with people that value justice and the rule of law; or to side with those who do not. Because, just like the Brexit scandal, this is not about Remain or Leave or about Labour or Conservative, it is about the law – about those who value it and those who do not.
When those in power stop valuing the rule of law, it is the precipice of the change I spoke of.
There are times in which others can be met halfway. There are times in which people can park their opinions and hear those of others. There are times in which one can say ‘I don’t agree, but I can see your point’. But breaking the law by those in positions of power is not that time.
It is an act of violence, an act of state violence, that does not warrant analysis but clear-cut action against those blinded by the acquisition of power.