Boris Johnson is one of the most influential political escapologists in modern times. When I first came across him nearly a quarter of a century ago, he was known by some of his colleagues as ‘the greased piglet’.
It was his idea that if he appeared to be trapped, he would slip under the fingers of his pursuers and run away in another direction to cause mischief.
People who believe Boris’ imminent death is due to the Johnson story should reconsider. Boris defies political gravity. He is at great peril for those who wish to write him off.
Nonetheless, no one watching him yesterday at Prime Minister’s Questions could doubt that he is in a scrape. It’s something that he also knows. In his conversations with Labour leader Sir KeirStarmer, he was more inclined to focus on the negative. While he was still pignacious, he was uncommonly dissolute.
Boris Johnson (pictured above) is the greatest political escape artist of all time. He defies political gravity. He is a political savant.
He is accused of lying when he claimed not to be aware about an event that took place at No 10, on December 18, last year. He previously reiterated the Covid mantra and ordered ministers not to break it.
The party might have occurred after all. He has now asked for the assistance of the Cabinet secretary (the most senior civil servant and the one expected to be impartial and objective) to look into it. He would have said the same thing he did a week earlier!
Boris Johnson enemies will quickly disbelieve Johnson’s claim that he was unaware of any Covid-busting party. Can it be possible that it was attended by 40 persons (as cited in the Boris-hating Daily Mirror).
Conceivably. The No. 10 building is much larger than what it appears from the exterior. Boris could have been sleeping with Carrie or other engaged women in the flat above No 11. There is no evidence that he attended the party.
Nor should we dismiss the possibility that it wasn’t a party in the normal sense of the word, but rather an impromptu opening of a few bottles of wine by some tired and overworked employees. They may have been quieter than church mice, knowing they had done wrong.
Still, it’s hard to believe that no one mentioned even muted festivities to him the next day, or over the following days. Boris might have seen one or two people who were tired and with sore heads, but he would not have missed them.
It is possible that he learned that there was a celebration at one point, but he might have forgotten. Being by nature generous and genial, he may have felt that he shouldn’t reprove young people for enjoying themselves, despite their breaking Covid rules.
Allegra Straton, who cried yesterday after quitting her job as a spin doctor for the government, doesn’t seem to have attended the shindig. It was she who appeared in the video clip, leaked on Tuesday, in which she flippantly implied there had been a party, causing the PM to be ‘furious’ and ‘sickened’.
The pity — whether he knew about the party or not — is that he has again given the impression that there is one very lax set of rules for him and his chums, and another much more demanding set for the rest of us.
The PM tends to be downward-looking during his interactions with Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader
The operation of double standards was first noticed by people in April 2020, when Dominic Cummings (his chief advisor) drove to Barnard Castle and clearly violated lockdown rules. He was quickly forgiven by Prime Minister. Cummings became his protector later.
Yesterday, the ex-chief adviser tweeted that there had been a scuffle at No. 10 last night during lockdown hours after Boris sent him packing.
There have been other examples of the PM’s tendency to divide humanity into his gang and the rest. When Home Secretary Priti Patel was found guilty by an official report of breaking the ministerial code by her bullying of staff, Mr Johnson privately urged Tory MPs to ‘form a square around the Pritster’.
At a dinner Boris, who was contentedly accompanied 30 other former journalists, I noticed his strong identification with his tribe. Though perhaps not given to close friendships, he feels strong loyalty to former and existing colleagues — provided they don’t challenge his power.
Two-tiered political classifications can prove fatal. In the case of a prime Minister, it could be fatal. People who lost loved ones to Covid were heard yesterday on the radio.
They couldn’t understand why, when rule-makers were illegally making hay at No 10, they had been prevented from visiting their nearest and dearest as they were dying — and had risked fines if they disobeyed the law.
Allegra Stratton (pictured), who wept as she quit her job yesterday afternoon as a spin doctor for the government.
Although people expect politicians to lie they may not be expecting Johnson to do so. What they can’t bear is this sense that there is one rule for an elite — in this case, Tories and the PM’s pals — and another for them.
This is the sad end of this episode. Although I didn’t think Sir Keir Starmer succeeded yesterday in eviscerating the Prime Minister in the Commons, he was right to suggest that he had lost ‘moral authority’.
The gradual ebbing away of that authority isn’t just bad for Mr Johnson, the Government and the Tories. This is bad news for the nation at the moment.
After his Commons appearance, the Prime Minister appeared on the screens to announce a new series of Covid restrictions. There are reasonable suggestions that the announcement was made to distract from his predicament.
I believe the new rules are premature, given that no one yet knows how lethal — or relatively harmless — the Omicron variant will be. According to one economic think tank, the measures could cost the economy an enormous £4 billion a month.
STEPHEN GLOOVER writes that people expect politicians to lie. However, Mr Johnson might be too dependent on them indulgence.
How will an already fatigued population react to a batch of new regulations after the revelation that No 10 didn’t follow the old ones? The British are a law-abiding people but they don’t appreciate being asked to accept sacrifices which their rulers won’t make.
So far as the charges against Mr Johnson are concerned, they obviously haven’t gone away. He will have to submit a detailed report. His reputation would be destroyed if the Cabinet Secretary came up with a fake whitewash.
But the most damaging legacy of this unnecessary act of self-harm — coming weeks after the Owen Paterson affair, when the PM was eager to tear up disciplinary rules to help a mate before changing his mind — is indeed likely to be the Government’s diminishing moral authority.
As the Prime Minister’s many enemies rejoice, and can hardly believe their luck at this latest self-inflicted wound, it’s hard not to feel a deepening despair.
As millions of other people, I want him to be a great leader. I haven’t given up all hope. Boris Johnson appears perversely determined not to give up on his dreams.