On yer Bike, Pal

 

As we watch the daily shenanigans in the Tory Party after the allegations of Number 10 being a party magnet and wait for Sue Gray, there is a sense that we may have A Very British Coup.  It will be the polar opposite of Chris Mullin's novel and subsequent TV series about the establishment taking out a Labour Prime Minister for seeking to deliver his manifesto. This time it will be for partying in Downing Street on numerous occasions whilst the rest of the nation suffered in lockdown. It is quite evident from all the opinion polls, the vox pops, and the internecine war in the Tory Party that parties are beyond the pale. 

Whilst it is easy to understand the public mood of anger at the PMs latest display of hubris, it has not come without warning and it would rank quite far down the scale of his worst failings. Consider Boris Johnson's lifetime achievements in breaching the norms of honesty, decency, fairness, responsibility and diplomacy.

As a Journalist, Johnson was adept at faking articles, making up myths and was sacked from the Times. At the Daily Telegraph, he reported from Brussels and became a leading Eurosceptic whilst inventing myths about over zealous regulations. As editor of the Spectator, he opposed the banning of handguns after the Dunblane massacre. He has recently admitted that he is Guilty about his-Journalism.  This doesn't absolve him from the misogynistic and racist comments that frequently adorned articles, such as “It is said that the Queen has come to love the Commonwealth, partly because it supplies her with regular cheering crowds of flag-waving piccaninnies.” There are dozens of similar quotes that led his editor at the Telegraph to pronounce him totally unsuitable for any office of State

As Mayor of London and Prime Minister, he has shown a total disregard for financial probity and tendency to reward supporters. His propensity to promote vanity projects such as a new airport on the Isle of Dogs, Garden Bridges over the Thames, a bridge to Northern Ireland, a new Royal Yacht have all come to grief but only after millions of £ had been wasted on feasibility studies. He overspent on new London buses, converting the Olympic stadium into a football stadium and wallpaper. Worst of all he approved £37bn to be spent on a Test and Trace programme that never worked but was managed by one of his friends. Other friends were poured into the House of Lords or given the chance to win massive contracts for PPE through a fast track. 

His habit of ditching family, friends, colleagues and his lack of concern for the common good has been manifest throughout his career. Without commenting on his family travails, his willingness to provide details of a News of the World colleague to enable a physical attack in 1990 suggests that his moral compass is uncalibrated. His dismissal of Tory MPs who didn't accept his position on Brexit was a measure of his oligarchical ambitions. By disposing of MPs like David Gauke, Rory Stewart, Justine Greening, Heidi Allen, Alistair Burt and Dominic Grieve, some of whom were pushed and others jumped, the Tory Party has lost its most honest advocates for social justice, human rights and ethical foreign policies. The new intake of Brexit loyalists are now realising that loyalty is a one-way ticket with Boris Johnson. Already one has switched to Labour and a dozen MPs have been blackmailed or threatened by the PM and his whips for failing to support controversial policies that adversely affect their constituencies or if they were likely to call for his resignation.

His tacit support of ex-President Trump, the appointment of ex Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott as a Trade Advisor, his relationship and ennoblement of Russian Oligarchs, his implicit involvement in the imprisonment of Nazanin Zaghari-Radcliffe and his failure to negotiate her release illustrate his support for populist regimes and abstinence from ethical foreign policies. Soft power opportunities for the UK have been sacrificed by the cuts to International Aid and his minimal engagement in the COP26 Climate Change conference that he supposedly hosted but with a social distance that he gleefully ignored when it came to Covid.

As one of the original eurosceptics and inventor of many fake defamation stories about the EU, it is no surprise that he has continued to show no inclination to collaborate with European leaders. The hard Brexit that he hustled through parliament has had a devastating impact on trade, inflation, UK businesses, Irish relations and travellers. As an entitled Eton and Oxford classical graduate, there is no sense of mea culpa, that sort of admission is for snowflakes or the woke tendency at the BBC. 

Lying is not parliamentary language and accusations of the Prime Minister being a liar is unparliamentary. But it has ever been the case as the article from Rory Stewart makes clear. “We should all have expected this. He’s been a very famous public figure for 30 years. The British public has spent 30 years focusing on the fact that he lies, that he is disorganised, that he betrays almost every personal commitment that he has." He has lied to Liverpool, to The Times newspaper, to the then Tory leader, Michael Howard, to the electorate on Brexit and much else, to the EU, to Lord Geidt and the Queen; so what makes anyone think he is not lying about Partygate. It is part of his DNA.

So, despite a lifetime of intended or unintended dire consequences from his time in public office, it will be the partying that seals the fate of our populist PM. A very British coup and after Sue Gray reports and the eventual realisation by Tory MPs that they will go down the tubes with him. His exit could be captured in the wirds of populist TV prorammes and his final chorus of 'Would I lie to you?'  will be 'Pointless', 'Big Brother' will hopefully evict him.

Under Offer, must pay well