The dark arts of politics were around long before Boris Johnson became PM.
Previous governments have used the whips to cajole, coerce and threaten MPs. And they have dangled the prospect of a promotion or knighthood to get backbenchers to fall into line. It is also the case that previous governments have sought to secure re-election with a generous sprinkling of money.
For example, given the over-60s are more likely to vote, it is not a coincidence that they have been courted by successive parties.
That includes Gordon Brown ’s free TV licences for the over-75s and David Cameron’s pensions triple lock.
But these practices are very different to the Sopranos-style operation allegedly run by Boris Johnson’s government.
According to the Tory MP William Wragg, Downing Street has sought to “blackmail” MPs who refuse to toe the line, threatening them with negative publicity or a loss of constituency funding.
Johnson’s defence that he had seen no evidence of such behaviour was almost as weak as his claim that nobody told him the No10 partying was illegal. It had all the plausibility of a Mafia don ordering a hit and then claiming he did not witness the moment the victim was dispatched.
That Johnson has indulged in “pork-barrel” politics is not new – the bulk of the £610million Towns Fund was funnelled to Conservative seats.
But this is the Prime Minister threatening to strip funding from the constituencies of MPs who have called him out over Partygate.
It is bad enough that money which should help the disadvantaged is already allotted according to political need rather than actual need.
But it is shocking that vital funds could be withheld because it could help the Prime Minister save his skin – if that proves to be the case.
