Here we go again. Having huffed, puffed and sneered now for six months about party-gate, the BBC is at it again, trying to force the resignation of a serving Prime Minister who made the mistake of being in the wrong room at the wrong time with a glass of warm wine and, shock horror, perhaps a slice of birthday cake.
The broadcaster simply can’t forgive Boris for having delivered Brexit, taken us through a pandemic and delivered a shift in geopolitical attitudes to Russia and China, largely ignoring the BBC’s Westminster-bubble-obsessed approach to politics.
Cake, icing and cherries, please
As for the commitment by Labour Leader, Sir Kier Starmer, and his Deputy, Angela Rayner, that they will resign if fined by the Durham police for their own alleged breaches of covid lockdown rules, it is cynical and mealy mouthed at best, not least because Durham police have already stated that they don’t issue retrospective fines. Surely, it is the offence that merits the resignation, if anything does, not the penalty notice being issued. Labour Leaders mimicking Boris Johnson’s cakeism – we want our cake and to eat it, with icing and cherries on top please!
Voters have moved on
The public is largely bored with all this trivia. That’s not to say breaches of covid rules don’t matter. They do, but the British public has watched opposition politicians and media commentators whip themselves up into rather too many self-righteous lathers. Boris Johnson made a mistake, unreservedly apologised and paid his fine without quibble. That is an appropriate and proportionate approach. The electorate has moved on, as they showed by not delivering the Conservative melt-down in the recent local government elections for which the BBC commentators had so earnestly yearned.
More important fish to fry
The media and the Westminster village should get back to dealing with the issues that matter – the cost of living crisis, climate change, the dreadful state of the NHS and our children’s mental health, to say nothing of the world now being at war in Ukraine, and with a trigger happy, violent thug with his finger on the nuclear button! Boris Johnson has much more important fish to fry; and there is now little prospect of him not leading the Conservatives into the next general election. Indeed, there’s a good chance he’ll yet give Labour another battering in those polls.
Political consultancy
The Whitehouse team are expert political consultants providing public relations and public affairs advice and political analysis to a wide range of clients, not only in the United Kingdom, but also across the member states of the European Union and beyond. For more information, please contact our Chair, Chris Whitehouse, at chris.whitehouse@whitehousecomms.com.
