There is a clammy, sticky feeling of shame I can’t shake when I consider Westminster now. Cowardice, bullying, lying and ambition oozes out of every antiquated orifice. Sexual aggression, an out-of-control drinking culture, ministers who are free to throw things at the staff and get away with it. Rules that are bent to buy gold wallpaper and save friends. And, of course, partygate.
Boris Johnson told us there were none. Yesterday, 83 government employees, largely junior civil servants, received multiple fines for attending 12 parties in Downing Street. Meanwhile their boss — the Prime Minister, who attended six — escaped with one fixed penalty notice for reasons we may never understand. Politically, as one senior Tory put it, “The outcome is better for him than the ‘market’ expected.”
