Boris Johnson is a politician who seems to live by the motto of ‘don’t explain, don’t apologise’.
That he came to the House of Commons on Wednesday contrite, with an unreserved apology and the promise of an inquiry by the cabinet secretary into the Christmas party in No 10 – which he still maintains didn’t take place despite a leaked video suggesting it did – showed us that the PM is acutely aware of the political danger he’s now in.
Doubling down on denials is no longer an option. At best this whole sorry saga will prove to be a bruising couple of weeks punctuated by the Christmas break; at worst it’s an inflection point in which a politician who was once celebrated and supported by colleagues for having the popular touch is now getting it badly wrong and is becoming a liability not an asset.
He is fighting a number of fires on a number of fronts and the scandal of what’s been really going on in No 10 still has space to blow up badly.
In No 10 staff have gone to ground, shell shocked after an awful 48 hours, which has resulted in one of their colleagues Allegra Stratton appearing on camera, broken and in tears, offering her resignation. Others are now facing an investigation by the cabinet secretary Simon Case.
Police won’t investigate Downing St Christmas party – as PM’s adviser resigns over leaked footage
Their boss, the prime minister, didn’t hesitate on Wednesday in throwing them under the bus, saying he was “furious” about the leaked footage of a mocked-up press conference in which aides joked about a Christmas party, which he and his team insisted for a week hadn’t happened.
Announcing an inquiry into events, the PM said if there was a party – and I have been told by two sources there was – then those involved will face consequences.
So more heads could roll as the PM does what he needs to keep his.
“Buying time because they don’t know what to do,” is how one former No 10 operative described the Case inquiry.
But now it’s underway and…
Source : skynews
