It was a meagre “apology”. For all manner of reasons, often diametrically opposed, many would wish that Partygate – the covert breach of public health regulations by the prime minister and others – could be brought to an appropriate end.
For the prime minister it would be a welcome relief from accusations – from the police, no less – that he has been breaking his own laws. For the opposition, and no doubt the very many people offended by his shameful behaviour, the saga would be over (though not the grief for families and victims) when Boris Johnson ends his unhappy tenure at No 10.
Sadly, the prime minister’s brief and cursory statement to the Commons will not allow him, or anyone else, to “move on”, as that slightly distasteful phrase goes. It is not over. Far from it.
As the prime minister himself implied, it is not the end of the matter, no matter how rapidly he moved on to his role in helping to save Ukraine. The important point here is that Ukraine will not collapse if Britain gets a new, more competent prime minister – the policy will remain the same.
On Partygate, there will be more fixed penalty notices – criminal sanctions for wrongdoing – and the speculation is that more of the tickets will have the prime minister’s name on them.
Most of the Sue Gray report remains unpublished. There will be more leaks, more images of the unlawful gatherings, more evidence of wrongdoing and further damaging revelations.
The Commons will debate and vote later this week on referring the prime minister to the Committee of Privileges. That will at least make Conservative MPs attach their names to the fate of Mr Johnson.
They may find themselves embarrassed when the full truth about what happened emerges – an appalling prospect. So awful, indeed, that the government whips may allow the motion for a referral to be nodded through. That reference of a prime minister in office to the Committee of Privileges would be another unfortunate first for the prime minister.
The prime minister’s case, which he was shy about repeating at length in the Commons, is that he only inadvertently broke the law (which is hardly a defence in any case), and that he accidentally misled parliament.
His argument, then, or at least that of allies, is that he is barely sentient – because he was actually at some of those unlawful gatherings, and the Covid laws he framed were clear enough that he should have known that the variety of events he turned up to were in breach of the law and at odds with his frequent pleas to the public to “stay home, protect the NHS, save lives”.
The prime minister has a well-deserved reputation for bumbling, but the idea that he didn’t know he was at events that were prohibited by his own laws remains risible. There is a wider picture, though, away from the legal arguments about what was and wasn’t an unlawful gathering, and whether the prime minister’s answers to the Commons and elsewhere about Partygate were true and accurate.
To keep up to speed with all the latest opinions and comment sign up to our free weekly Voices Dispatches newsletter by clicking here
The picture is the one the voters have formed about the nature and personality of the prime minister. Ever since he came to power, and for those who knew him at Eton, at Oxford and then in journalism and his earlier roles in politics, he has displayed a cavalier attitude towards ethical standards. Rules he finds personally irksome are disregarded. He has not always been entirely candid. In his own euphemism, “mistakes” are made.
For his fans, such things tended to be discounted because he “delivered”. But now the UK is set to endure the slowest growth in the G7, the highest taxes since the end of the Second World War, and inflation at a 40-year high. “Heat or eat” is a reality for too many families.
Mr Johnson’s record on Brexit, Covid, levelling up, public services, and the cost of living crisis simply hasn’t lived up to his promises – the promises made in the 2016 referendum, the 2019 election and after that the voters really care about, and which the electorate did expect him to honour.
Whether Partygate matters or not, Mr Johnson’s problem now is that he is not delivering.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments