Take note Boris Johnson – moral authority isn’t an optional extra for the government

It’s not just the golden wallpaper or the parties, it’s the rottenness of the whole system, writes Salma Shah

The PM’s authority is draining away after the Christmas party debacle (Getty)

We are faced with yet another government own goal. Just as stark data on omicron pushed us towards more restrictions, a video emerged of Allegra Stratton, a now former spokesperson for the prime minister, apparently joking about a party in No 10 last Christmas. A party that Downing St has consistently denied happened.

The media handling around this by Downing Street has the depth and sophistication of a school child being caught in a lie, with increasingly fantastical responses to straight forward questions. The more journalists probed the more they were fobbed off with rude and what have now proven to be disingenuous answers. “All the rules were followed.” “There was no party.” Embarrassed ministers were all forced to trot out these absurd lines.

The responses sound contemptuous with an added side of disdain for the rest of us, as if asking those to whom we have entrusted power are no longer answerable to us. What a bare-faced cheek to then announce curbs on our lives from the very room we were being mocked from.

For too long we’ve taken moral authority in government as an added extra, something that can be picked up and dropped at will. Many people make this mistake and believe that election victories are the only source of power. It’s true that the democratic process is the mechanism by which the means of power is granted but that power is largely dependent on trust. That trust has been broken, not just this week but alarmingly frequently.

It’s not just the golden wallpaper, nor is it the Owen Paterson debacle. It's not even the over inflated advisers that think they can act with impunity, it’s the rottenness of the system. Sir Philip Barton, the most senior civil service in the Foreign Office failed to return from holiday during the Afghanistan evacuation this summer, an operation that put huge strains on those in the armed services and tragically left many of those Afghans that helped us behind. When asked about his break he merely remarked dryly that with hindsight he probably should have come back. Wow, what self-knowledge and understanding of the stresses his own people in the department would have gone through… ditto the permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood and Gavin Williamson, the former education secretary who regrets having Christmas drinks in the office last year when gatherings were not permitted. OK, cool, so no blowback for breaking the rules then? No contrition to show the parents and teachers that have struggled hugely because their department could not get a grip on rules for schools.

The omicron variant is a genuine threat but with early evidence suggesting that it may not be as deadly as previous strains, people are reacting emotionally to the hypocrisy of the government. Why should they work from home? Or feel responsibility to others when the examples they’ve been given by those in charge don’t? In truth, we would only be harming ourselves if we don’t follow the guidance which is the most galling thing of all. But the PM’s authority is draining away. It’s very hard to discipline others when your own record is so patchy.

Actions have consequences. And while not everything that happens in the Westminster bubble has that magic “cut through” to the electorate it still matters. It matters that we have high standards that we need to try and reach, even if we fall short of them. At least Allegra Stratton had the decency to resign, let’s hope others take her example.

Salma Shah was special adviser to Sajid Javid, from 2018 to 2019. She was also a special adviser at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport