Tories rally to defend beleaguered Boris over "Partygate."

 

It's fascinating to see Boris and the Tories, wriggle about like a maggot on the end of a fishing hook, as they try to defend their beleaguered leader over the "Partygate" affair. The excuses become more ridiculous and embarrassing by the day. Initially, Boris denied there had been any parties, even though he attended them. Then he told us that he'd been reliably informed that all COVID rules and regulations had been complied with at all times. Now, he tells us, that although he humbly accepts the findings of the police that he broke the law, he didn't think he he'd broken the law, and had acted in good faith at all times. But as Dean Swift, famously said, where "Falsehood flies, truth comes limping after it."

We all know that ignorance of the law is no excuse. In issuing the fine, (F.P.N.), to the PM, the police are saying that there is a reasonable belief that you broke the law, that you knew you were breaking the law, or ought to have known, that you were breaking the law. Johnson was recently asked during an interview if he fully understood his own laws that he'd made for others, during the COVID epidemic, but he dodged the question. Not only does Boris Johnson not comply with his own laws, but he's the first serving Prime Minister, to have been found to have broken the law, while in office. He's also accused of lying to, and misleading Parliament. Despite his fine, and there may be others in the pipeline, Johnson says it's time to get on with the job.

Some Tory MPs in Parliament, who previously called for Johnson's resignation, have now changed tack, insisting that because of the war in the Ukraine, Johnson should not resign. Although British people were unable to attend funerals or visit loved ones during the lockdown restrictions, the Brexit minister, Jacob Reese-Mogg, even described "Partygate" as "fluff" and "fundamentally trivial", a mere distraction. Other have compared Boris's fine for breaching Covid lockdown restrictions, to a minor traffic violation. It looks like Vlad the Impaler, might have thrown Boris Johnson another lifeline with his invasion of the Ukraine. As Shakespeare says, "Busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels."