Is partygate really ‘fluff’ that has nothing to do with ukraine? | thearticle

When you know bad news is coming, managing expectations is a skill worth its weight in poll numbers. It’s the spin doctor’s ace in the hole. We are being softened up for the likelihood that

top government officials will be fined for breaking the law by holding booze-ups in Downing Street at the height of the pandemic. We wait to see if Boris Johnson is among them. But the

jungle drums are rising in tempo. Whitehall, according to a none too subtly placed leak in the _Guardian_, is “bracing itself” for bad news and a damning report by Sue Gray, the top civil

servant who investigated Partygate. This lamentable PR counter-offensive is being deployed in the run-up to May’s local elections like chaff strewn by a retreating army under attack. It’s a

morbidly fascinating performance by some seriously unprincipled people. Every Cabinet minister is now a spin doctor. Let us begin with Welsh Secretary, Simon Hart. People (he does not

specify which people) have “moved on” from Partygate. His constituents want Johnson to say “sorry”. But they don’t want him to resign. All 65,000 of them. What Hart is saying in effect is

that, yes, Johnson and an entire cadre of people who help him run the country (including his former ethics chief) broke the law — a law they made. But that was then and this is now. Is there

perhaps an obscure statute of limitations only a few are privy to on laws broken by some but not others? Perhaps it’s called _As Time Goes By_. More likely it’s just a new version of the

old “do as I say not as I do” adage beloved of oligarchs and the ruling classes. Johnson, we should remind ourselves, not only scorned laws he imposed on everyone else at a time of

unprecedented personal hardship and grief. He repeatedly issued denials, both in the House of Commons and in public, that any Covid restrictions had been broken in Downing Street. But, says

the claque, let bygones be bygones. Next, we come to Jacob Rees-Mogg, a man who claims to see both sides of an argument but invariably comes down on the side that serves him best. A

passionate Brexiter, two years after Britain left the EU he co-founded an offshore investment fund in Ireland offering clients a hedge against the consequences of a hard Brexit. Never let a

principle stand in the way of a good short position. Rees-Mogg’s argument about Partygate is that it is “disproportionate fluff”. In other words, while the people who run the country may

have broken the law that others followed scrupulously, much bigger crimes have been committed since. So that wipes the slate clean. This is the classic “Why aren’t you out catching real

criminals” cry from middle-class crooks when the rozzers comes knocking. Vladimir Putin’s monstrous invasion of Ukraine is a momentous international crisis for sure. But what does it have to

do with law-breaking, pandemic booze-ups in Downing Street? A rape committed by one person does not excuse a fraud committed by another. Then there is the argument that we cannot possibly

switch leaders during the Ukraine crisis. Unsurprisingly Johnson has hitched himself to this particular cause with a vengeance. It’s his Churchill moment his fans say, his Falklands moment.

Britain has been commendably tough in its response to Putin’s miserable war. I have argued, and still do, that Putin must be counter-punched with all the strength Europe and the US can

muster. It is not an ideal time to be switching horses. But an orderly resignation process and the election of a new Conservative leader and Prime Minister who pursues the same policy —

backed by a united opposition — would hardly cause Putin to lose sleep. It wouldn’t be the first time that Britain has sacked a Prime Minister in wartime. We fired Neville Chamberlain on May

10, 1940, seven months into the most costly war in history, and went on to win. One of the most subversive effects of Brexit is the desperation with which the Government talks up every and

any angle that casts Britain in a favourable light, while burying bad governance. This debases patriotism. Then there is Matt Hancock’s argument that Johnson deserves a break because he “got

the big things right”. Well: Hancock, who is busy treading the rehabilitation treadmill, would say that, wouldn’t he? This is a piece of self-serving baloney. Leave aside the fact that (its

vaccination programme apart) the UK’s record on managing the pandemic remains one of the worst in the world. Johnson either is or is not guilty of breaking the law and lying about it. A

successful vaccine programme (thanks largely to a big bet made by Kate Bingham, the former vaccine chief, and a formidable communal effort by the nation) has no bearing on this. Johnson

clearly thinks he has got away with Partygate. He believes he can wisecrack his way to victory. At a recent dinner for Tory MPs, he made crass jokes at the expense of MPs who are appalled at

the depth of his amoral behaviour. They should be glad, joked Johnson, they do not live in Russia where Putin has nobody to write letters calling for his resignation. Does the country feel

this way? We don’t really know. The fury among the bereaved who lost loved ones to the pandemic, who couldn’t hold their hand as they lay dying, has not eased. They don’t think it’s funny.

More seriously, polling suggests that voters think Johnson is incorrigible. MPs can surely have no illusions about the fact that the man they elected to lead them is well past his sell-by

date. The bigger point is this: do we really want to be led by a man who is a preternatural liar and inherently unreliable? If he lies about Partygate what else might he lie about? His

reputation — which means Britain’s reputation — was shredded long before Partygate. His tendency to play fast and loose with the law for political (or personal) gain suggests a man who

cannot stick to a bargain. His premiership has been marked by more U-turns than a big dipper. The country faces a series of immense challenges: the Ukraine crisis, the blowback from

sanctions against Russia, the spiralling cost of energy, inflation, growing poverty, the aftermath of Brexit, the growing signs that global warming is a disaster waiting to happen. At times

like this, the country needs someone dependable, someone voters, the Tory party, the civil service, businesses and our allies can trust. There’s not much of a choice. But that’s not Johnson

— is it? A MESSAGE FROM THEARTICLE _We are the only publication that’s committed to covering every angle. We have an important contribution to make, one that’s needed now more than ever, and

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