FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT
LONDON – It was Boris Johnson’s last showbut the feeling is that the consummate actor has now lost his magic: and yesterday could be remembered as the one in which the former British prime minister began to slide inexorably towards oblivion.
Boris appeared in the afternoon before the commission of deputies dealing with cases of contempt of Parliament: why the former prime minister is accused of misleading the House of Commons when he declared in the chamber that all Covid rules had been respected in Downing Street. This is the latest act of the infamous Partygate, the scandal of parties during the lockdown in the premier’s residence: but what is now in question is Johnson’s conduct in front of Parliament. If it were proved that he had lied knowing he was lying, he could be suspended as a deputy and his political career would come to an end.
The “interrogation” was broadcast live on television: and the Parliament’s TV site crashed. Boris did not disappoint the audience: and he resorted to all his oratory and stage masteryknowing that he is speaking to a much larger audience than just the parliamentary committee.
Having solemnly sworn by God and the Bible, Johnson proclaimed that “I am here to tell you, hand on heart, that I have not lied to Parliament. Those statements were made in good faith, based on what I knew and believed at the time.” However, the former prime minister apologized for the holidays: “he was wrong, I regret it bitterly, I understand the anger of the public and I take full responsibility for it”.
Ma the deputies of the commission did not allow themselves to be softened and pressed him for hours with images of those parties: how was it possible that he didn’t know that all the rules were being violated? Boris began to get into trouble, to get nervous, to raise his voice, to lose the thread as he went into detail. At one point, after three hours, he lost his temper and called some of the questions “complete nonsense.”
But until the end he professed his innocence. According to him, it was necessary to thank and motivate the staff during the pandemic and therefore those little parties were basically work events: but when asked if all that quantity of alcohol was necessary, he replied calmly that “in this country it is customary to greet people with a toast”.
However, an equally significant event took place during a break in the hearing, when the deputies voted on the agreement for Northern Ireland reached with Brussels at the end of February by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak: Boris spoke out against, but only once a small patrol of rebels (including the other former prime minister Liz Truss) followed him. As the agreement passed with a plebiscite: a sign that the Tories have realized that their hopes of an electoral comeback against Labour, far ahead in the polls, now reside in Sunak, one who speaks little but brings home the results, while Boris has had his day. The lights on his show are inexorably going out.