Only Boris Johnson could try to spin a document as damning as the Sue Gray report as some ludicrous form of vindication.
But the prime minister’s brass neck is by now so polished that even the stickiest of Partygate mud simply slides off.
To any other resident of 10 Downing Street, at any other time in this country’s history, Sue Gray’s report would be a resignation matter.
On page after excruciating page, it paints a picture of an administration not just out of step with the public, but out of control.
Three in five Brits say Boris Johnson should resign after publication of Sue Gray's report, according to a snap @YouGov poll.
And 74% believe that the PM knowingly lied about breaking lockdown rules, including a majority of Tory voters.
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) May 25, 2022
When thousands were dying from Covid and others were falling gravely ill, when people were living in fear and were unable to welcome their nearest and dearest into their homes, Downing Street officials – elected and otherwise – carried on as they pleased.
They partied, they drank, they fought, they vomited.
And in doing so they brought shame on themselves and, in one fell swoop, underlined what many already thought – that we were not all in Covid together.
Disgrace – but no sign that Boris Johnson will do the decent thing
What the Gray report demonstrates is there were those to whom the rules – the laws of the land – applied, and those to whom they did not.
When that is the reality of government during a national crisis, the question should not be who should go.
The question should be who should stay?
This national disgrace not only happened on Boris Johnson’s watch, he actively participated in the Bacchanalian feast around him.
He should have been first out of the door, followed by the many other rotten apples around him.
Yet Johnson clings to power like a limpet in a storm. It is a pathetic sight.
And one that perfectly sums up the abject state of a government that has set truth, integrity and honesty aside for political power and personal gain.
This country deserves better.
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