Boris Johnson’s future as prime minister looks shakier. Yet the rot extends well beyond the current resident of Downing Street
, a senior civil servant, criticised “failures of leadership” that allowed 16 parties to go ahead while the country was in lockdown. A dozen are being looked into by the police, whose investigations may take months. After a contemptible performance in Parliament, Mr Johnson’s future as prime ministerTake Britain’s civil service, which still thinks of itself as a Rolls-Royce institution. Its involvement in the succession of parties suggests that a better comparison would be with a Morris Minor.
If the civil service botched its investigation, so did the Metropolitan Police. At first, it took the unpopular but understandable decision not to investigate historical breaches of pandemic regulations, which were punishable by fixed financial penalties. Hypocrisy among politicians and civil servants may be inadvisable, but it is not criminal. The Met then U-turned and decided to investigate. Worse, it demanded Ms Gray excise details in her report concerning parties it was looking into.
Journalists applauded themselves for revealing the juicy details that triggered public rage. During one party—on the eve of Prince Philip’s funeral—officials avoided suspicion by ferrying wine from a nearby shop into Downing Street in a wheeled suitcase. At the same time, the scandal highlighted the often-cosy relationship between Downing Street and the press. One party was for James Slack, the prime minister’s departing spokesman.
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