How Boris Johnson has lost our trust two years after fridge farce to avoid Piers Morgan – The Yorkshire Post says

The Tory leader began the final day of campaigning for 2019 election undertaking a milk round near Guiseley where he cowered in a large fridge to avoid an awkward inquisition with TV’s Piers Morgan.

Boris Johnson’s Christmas party ‘lies’ betray virus victims and destroy trust – The Yorkshire Post says

And, while Mr Johnson did secure the country’s confidence after spending much of the campaign dodging scrutiny, such goodwill – built on Brexit – is now in ruins.

My children did not see their dying dad while Downing Street held Christmas party and mocked us – Jayne Dowle

The consequence is Britain being run, at a time of a global crisis over the Covid pandemic, by a premier who has substituted statesmanship and statecraft for lies and deceit in order to mask personal and political impropriety.

On their own, each scandal is corrosive to confidence in public office. Cumulatively, they’re potentially fatal to the PM in the wake of the rank hypocrisy of Dominic Cummings, Matt Hancock and others in the pandemic.

First Owen Paterson and it beggars belief that the Johnson government thought – contemptuously – that it could ride roughshod over Parliament to spare an ex-Minister guilty of ‘egregious’ rule-breaking over a lobbying scandal.

Next the now infamous Downing Street parties last Christmas in defiance of the Covid lockdown. To deny their existence, and be found out, is bad enough. To compound this by embarrassing footage emerging of a mock press conference that featured questions about these very gatherings, and staff in fits of laughter, will not be easily forgiven by all those denied the chance to hold the hands of dying loved ones.

And now the Downing Street flat refurbishment and the Electoral Commission’s £17,800 fine leading to suggestions that Mr Johnson misled an investigation into funding headed by his own ministerial standards adviser Lord Geidt.

No wonder Mr Johnson – a leader who showed no loyalty to his predecessor Theresa May – finds his party in open revolt over the imposition of new Covid regulations, and other matters, ahead of next week’s North Shropshire by-election caused by Mr Paterson’s downfall.

And with many senior backbenchers warning that the premier will have to resign if he’s misled Parliament, as a growing number now suspect, time is now running out for the PM to save his government if not his own reputation.

Given this mess, a Downing Street leadership structure needs to be put in place that conforms to the highest standards of propriety, integrity and ethics – all traits disregarded by Mr Johnson and his cabal.

Mr Johnson should also appoint a trusted public figure of former Tory leader William Hague’s stature to help bring some much-needed order to Downing Street so Ministers can fully focus on the country’s public health response to the Omicron variant without unnecessary distractions. It’s about the last hope for a country that finds itself being led by a premier who appears no longer fit to hold public office, lead by example and vindicate the trust placed in him two long years ago.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app, receive exclusive members-only offers and access to all premium content and columns. Click here to subscribe.