Boris Johnson is talented as a political escapologist, but evasion of accountability is a different skill from public administration, the absence of which is getting hard even for Tory loyalists to ignore. The gravity of what was implied by Sue Gray’s report into lockdown parties in Downing Street is weighing more heavily on many Conservative MPs after a few days’ contemplation – and correspondence with constituents. The announcement of financial aid to help with the cost of living, cynically timed to move the news agenda on from Partygate, worked only briefly. The report stirred too much public indignation and left too many questions unanswered, not least the matter of gatherings in the flat above Downing Street, over which Ms Gray’s account drew an inexplicable veil of discretion.
Aside from the ethical problems inherent in having a prime minister indifferent to the laws that his government makes, the Gray report exposed a tolerance of disorder in the headquarters of what is supposed to be a leading global democracy. After the initial impact of shock comes the slow burn of embarrassment, and the realisation that Britain is not being governed seriously in very serious times.
