Jolyon Maugham, the QC who took the case to the Supreme Court to end the illegal prorogation of Parliament, has been in Stroud supporting the parliamentary campaign of Molly Scott Cato MEP.
Mr Maugham chatted with the public in High Street before addressing a gathering over lunch to discuss threats to our democracy and how we can defend it against disinformation and attacks on the rule of law.
Mr Maugham said:
“We know that Boris Johnson is pretty autocratic and when he speaks he sounds like Trump or Erdogan or Orbán. He doesn’t represent the values that are values of the country we love.
Brexit is not so much about the constitutional relationship we have with the other 27 EU member countries. Fundamentally, it is about the loss of values we hold dear. If our democracy followed those values then Molly Scott Cato would be in Parliament.
People often talk about the need for tactical voting as voting for the lesser of two evils, but you still only get the lesser of two evils. We need to vote for something better or we won’t get the change we need.”
Molly Scott Cato added:
“It has been wonderful to have the support of Jolyon who is such a champion of democracy and to whom our country owes so much. With growing extremism on both sides, it is important that we resist the extreme partisanship in politics that can give rise to aggressive behaviour. This sort of behaviour that does not represent the values of Stroud, the Valleys and Vale.”