AS I figuratively put pen to paper the nation is breathing a huge sigh of relief with the dastardly Boris Johnson having just announced he would be resigning. 

There is no doubt that by the time this is published for the Big Meeting that things will have moved on somewhat and we will have a better idea of what the future holds. 

Elements of our fawning media who have always thought he was some sort of celebrity performer, have already begun to describe his speech as being delivered in typical “Boris fashion.” 

Well, I agree it was delivered in typical fashion but not because of any stardust he has but because it put his self-serving elitism and contempt for ordinary people on show.

The man is an absolute disgrace and has never been fit for public office. Despite that he stands in front of the nation to list his “achievements” in office and not once showed any remorse for his actions.

His is a government that are presiding over a spiralling cost of living crisis with electricity, gas, petrol, foodstuffs, and household goods going through the roof. 

At the same time it demonises trade unions standing up for workers and watches its donors and Cabinet members growing filthy rich. 

It is a government that has attacked the rights of those who dare to oppose their dreadful policies. In fact their new laws mean should they wish they could cancel this very Gala. 

A government that has whipped up hatred against migrants, LGBTQ people and people of colour and have sought to divide a working class in all its diversity.

It is a government which throughout a pandemic made decisions that needlessly cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and simultaneously destroyed our economy. 

And whilst we were all doing our bit, they were lugging suitcases full of drink through the back door of Number 10 and funnelling huge sums of public money to their dodgy donors.

In recent weeks and months, the pervasive atmosphere of bullying and sexual misconduct has reached fever pitch. What is happening in Westminster is not normal. It should not be seen as normal and successive Prime Ministers and senior figures in the Tory Party have allowed it to fester.

Forgive me if I don’t show this charlatan any sympathy.

Throughout this whole debacle hundreds of Tory MPs have stood behind this incompetent man. Resignations this late in the day do not in any way absolve or cleanse the soul of the those who have so wilfully supported this PM. In the coming hours, days and months don’t let them spin the actions of Johnson or his cronies in the government as having done the “honourable thing.”

Whoever the Tories put in post next will continue their generational attack on working people and will not break with a four-decade long crusade to funnel wealth from the working classes of this country to the rich. 

Their elitism will need to be defeated at the ballot box with a bold programme that turns back the clock on the robbery of wealth from our people by the rich.

Contrast these people with what is on show today. This is the biggest working-class festival in western Europe. The people who march here today are Britain’s true elites.

It is fitting given all that has happened over the past two years that today is dedicated to key workers. We will hear from front-line staff from the platform alongside their trade union leaders. 

It is the people here today who will set this country on a path to prosperity for all, not those vying for the top job in the Conservative Party. 

It remains to be seen how many of those Tory MPs who said they’d join us at the Big Meeting have the bottle to be here today, I’d wager not many.

I will finish with a message to my own party. It is not enough to simply not be the party of Boris Johnson. 

The country is on its knees. The key workers who have kept us going through thick and thin need a party in Parliament that will stand up for them. Not try to triangulate and play mediator in debates between working people and bosses.

The challenges we face globally are huge. The spectre of war, famine and poverty that have always haunted us are back in vogue. 

But they are joined by demographic ageing, automation, and climate change. These are big challenges that need bold policies and popular movements to deliver them. We cannot tinker around the edges as the world burns.

Whilst times have changed, I urge the Labour Party to look for inspiration in its founders, our brothers and sisters in the trade union movement. 

Look at the banners on display here today and remember “united we stand, divided we fall” and the “future we build.” 

Let’s make it one to be proud of and one that stops our communities from being held back once and for all.