The Guardian view on Boris Johnson’s apology: time to vote the PM from office | Editorial
Boris Johnson does not care about parliamentary customs or decency or the truth. If he did then he would have gone long ago. By breaking the lockdown rules he had made, the prime minister breached the ministerial code – which expresses the country’s constitutional conventions – on two counts.
First, despite his denial, Mr Johnson has “knowingly misled parliament”. This is a resigning matter because parliament could not do its job to scrutinise the government without truthful ministerial responses to MPs’ questions. Mr Johnson’s claim of ignorance of his government’s policy on the biggest issue of the day is risible. He may face many more fines. It seems fanciful to go on claiming that such gatherings, lubricated by alcohol, were impossible to distinguish from the business of the state.
Not only has Mr Johnson lied; his mealy-mouthed apology reveals him to be man who wears his mendacity lightly. This is dangerous for democracy. A prime minister whose words are not believed is not capable of leading. What happens if Covid rates are judged in the near future to require masks to be worn in crowded areas? Mr Johnson has lost the trust of voters, and it is unlikely that the public would want to hear any message about restrictions that he was bearing.
The second violation of the ministerial code is perhaps even more serious. Mr Johnson is the first serving British prime minister to be punished for breaking the law when the ministerial code expects him to follow it. Unfortunately, it is Mr Johnson who has to decide the sanction he ought to face. There is no sign that he is prepared to do the right thing and resign. His career has been marked by a belief that the rules are for other people. A government that imposes laws it does not follow itself has no legitimacy in the eyes of the public.
In response to Mr Johnson’s drift – or gallop – towards an authoritarian administration, Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, suggested that MPs vote later this week on whether to refer the prime minister to the parliamentary privileges committee to investigate whether he misled MPs. This allows for all parliamentarians to put on record their view of the prime minister’s evasions. Mr Johnson’s argument that this is a partisan act because the privileges committee is presided over by an opposition MP evaporates when one discovers that this is a requirement of parliamentary rules.
In the UK, lawmakers can dismiss the executive if not satisfied with its performance. Strong party discipline can prevent this – but unpopular leaders are dethroned. Fealty may explain why some Conservatives have argued that Mr Johnson’s fine is no more serious than a speeding ticket, even when they know the fine that the prime minister paid was for breaking rules regarding his key life-saving Covid policy.
Mr Johnson disregards constitutional standards for short-term and politically self-interested reasons. A diminished prime minister who has few fixed opinions might be seen as useful to MPs who yearn to reassert themselves. However, the result will be policymaking marked by chaos rather than purpose. Many Tories fear making life harder for council candidates in May’s local elections.
But the longer he is in office, the more the organising principle of Mr Johnson’s Tory party will be loyalty. Not devotion to a vision or a legislative platform, but to just one man and his many shortcomings. Conservative MPs should realise that this is dangerous to them, their party and the country, and turf Mr Johnson from office.
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