As Sue Gray’s report emerges, why Boris Johnson will never be forgiven for ‘partygate’ lies – Tom Richmond

This haunting social media post by an esteemed former colleague and writer from Hull explains why it is, frankly, insulting to claim that Boris Johnson was “ambushed by cake” at a Cabinet Room gathering for his 56th birthday.

Revealed: How Boris Johnson lied to David Davis and MPs over Churchill’s ally after being told ‘In the name of God, go’ – Tom Richmond

And the fact that everyone – apart from a select few in the heart of power – can attest to comparable family sacrifices in the Covid pandemic makes the latest response of Tory politicians even more insulting now senior civil servant Sue Gray’s long-awaited report on Downing Street’s lockdown gatherings is with the Metropolitan Police.

Why Boris Johnson must resign over Downing Street’s boozy lockdown parties and contempt for Covid families – Tom Richmond

First, the ruse that the PM’s staff were working so hard that some social gatherings – some more gawdy and drunken than others – could be excused by circumstance. What about NHS and other frontline staff who also worked round-the-clock (and obeyed the rules)?

Next, the hysterical intervention in Parliament by Beverley MP Graham Stuart where he welcomed the scandal’s escalation to a criminal investigation – I struggle to see how police involvement can ever be the cause of any celebration.

Now, the view, again espoused by Stuart, that this is some sort of Labour plot while his colleagues blame the BBC, neglectful that it is ITN, and the Daily Mirror, that have set the news agenda.

Then, the assertion by Gainsborough’s Sir Edward Leigh that greater perspective is needed with a Russian invasion of Ukraine said to be imminent – the ending of the then ‘Cold War’ did not spare Margaret Thatcher in 1990 and it is disingenuous to suggest that world peace depends on Johnson staying in office.

And finally the lame Grant Shapps defence, namely the Transport Secretary’s view that the UK has other priorities at this time. Few, if any, issues matter as much as the integrity of the Prime Minister’s office and discredited premier who has taken his 80-seat majority, won on the back of broken promises to ‘red wall’ voters, for granted.

Again the context is critical. Many people would probably have been willing to forgive a one-off indiscretion by the PM and his cohort because of the unique circumstances that they, and Britain, faced in a pandemic. Indeed they showed great empathy when Johnson was left fighting for his life with Covid.

What they will never forget is the cover-up – the denials, the deceptions, the arrogance and grotesque sense of entitlement from the charlatans and chancers left in charge of a carry-on that has repeatedly seen Parliament misled, a prima facie resignation issue.

And this explains why the Tory party’s response to the publication of the Gray report is far more important than her findings which appear even more damning than the near-daily disclosures about ‘bring your own booze’ parties, and so on, that have shattered trust in this government and besmirched the reputations of all Parliamentarians.

For backbench MPs wondering whether to submit letters of no confidence – can they look their voters in the eye and say, with all conscience, that the Government ‘followed the rules’ and Johnson is still deserving of their trust?

For Ministers and key lieutenants like Pudsey MP Stuart Andrew, the deputy chief whip, it comes down to this – how can they justify, morally and politically, ‘blackmailing’ their colleagues, the incendiary charge made last week, into supporting such a discredited and disreputable government?

For aspiring prime ministers like Chancellor Rishi Sunak, the Richmond MP, the calculation is now far more nuanced – does he show loyalty to Johnson having done little to disguise his displeasure at Downing Street’s party games, does he resign in the hope Tory activists view this statesmanship kindly in a future leadership contest or does he briefly vanish from public scrutiny with Macavity-like mysteriousness?

How these questions are reconciled will determine if the party’s over – literally – for Johnson or if the Conservative party is prepared to risk its own future with another act of self-indulgence towards a leader who still appears ignorant of the responsibilities that come with high office.

But let me be clear that giving Johnson ‘one more chance’ – the political equivalent of ‘last orders’ – will not suffice for long when ‘lying’ could be his middle name. Equally flimsy, too, is the view that Johnson should be reprieved because there’s no obvious successor – that also does a disservice to voters about the breakdown of trust that has taken place.

And this is why Tory Ministers and MPs must now be guided by their constituents – the people who sacrificed family milestones because they followed the rules – rather than a Prime Minister who showed contempt for the rules that he, himself, set. It’s actually that simple.

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Tom Richmond is Comment Editor of The Yorkshire Post. He tweets via OpinionYP.

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