There are many lessons still to learn from the pandemic, but there is no mystery about Boris Johnson’s conduct. He broke the rules of lockdown and lied about it. The exposure of his behaviour drained public support away from him and his party. Those facts are not altered by news that fresh allegations relating to the use of the prime ministerial country retreat at Chequers have been reported to police.
A Tory faction is outraged on behalf of their former leader, insisting that he is the victim of a conspiracy – a “witch-hunt” conducted by a liberal “blob” operating through the civil service. This sinister entity is said also to have targeted Dominic Raab, who resigned last month over claims of bullying, and Suella Braverman, who is alleged to have breached the ministerial code by trying to involve department officials in the handling of a speeding ticket.
