By Gabriel Princewill-
The infringement of lockdown rules by The Sun’s deputy chief editor, Jack Slack, questions the moral authority of the paper to join aggrieved Mps in calling for Boris Johnson’s resignation when their own man stays in his post.
Slack- Johnson’s former communication man was well aware of the rules when he courted a party to celebrate his departure from Downing Street during Covid lockdown . The deputy chief editor was aware of the rules when he subscribed to the idea of a party to celebrate his transition to greener pastures where he could c0-edit news that amongst other things criticises others.
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It seems rather rich for a publication in which Slack holds an exalted position to make recommendations for the prime minister to resign because of the latter’s allege indiscretion in, wilfully indulged in by Mr.Slack.
With the Sun’s deputy chief editor admitting to have been slack himself, it seems rather hypocritical that he can edit a paper calling for the man whose authority facilitated his own glorious leaving do to be sacked, whilst he keeps his job.
It is also rather slack for any publication to condone that level of unapologetic hypocrisy, whilst the press and a slew of aggrieved Mps act as cheerleaders, urgently seeking Johnson’s demise.
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The prime minister is by no stretch of the imagination infallible and has apologized for his hypocritical misjudgment in allowing anything resembling a party to occur whilst the liberty of the public was stringently curtailed in the name of a pandemic. He has been the orchestrator of his own woes.
What’s good for the gooze is good for the gander, and unless Slack is prepared to resign from his position or be relieved from his job to demonstrate the levity of the error of judgement in question, the publication in which he holds an exalted position has no business endorsing the prime minister’s departure. They are vicariously guilty of the same.
Granted, the prime minister’s conscious and inadvertent liability in being the maker and breaker of his own laws eclipses that of Slack, but the Sun’s deputy chief editor also has a big responsibility to the British public as a highly ranked journalist to set high standards for society to emulate.
The Sun covered numerous articles during the lockdown, encouraging compliance with the rules as did all media publications including ours. It also published articles revealing retrospectively flawed models from government scientists speculating on the number of deaths expected to result unless a lockdown was implemented speedily.
Critics in various quarters, including members of the public have already jumped to the conclusion that ministers of the Uk government who attended parties could not genuinely have believed the seriousness of the virus not need for restrictive measures. Speculations of this type are not necessarily true, even if the hypocrisy is patently unarguable.
The fact that one of the Sun’s own highly placed editors could violate the laws with impunity, but the publication can still have the conviction to wax lyrical about reasons the prime minister should go is an amusing show of double standards.
And whilst there has been uproar about parties in Downing Street and a clamour for Johnson to lose his post, it would be an affront to the intelligence of the British public if the Sun’s deputy chief editor were to keep his post, whilst the paper jumps on the bandwagon of pushing for Johnson’s exit.
Mr. Johnson’s complicity in the prohibited activities of a party well documented and indefensible, but there must be no pretence that all those who attended those parties are guilty of the same transgression.
The Buck must always stop with the boss in matters like these.
Similarly, all bosses and deputies guilty of the same wrongdoing should be expected to be judged at a comparable standard as the prime minister, if the underlying principle of integrity and purpose is to be maintained.
Whilst Slack’s future has been said to depend on the outcome Gray’s investigation, the publication still has independent discretion over whether to dismiss him or not.
Whilst the Sun Newspaper retain Slack in his post, either as an asset, or due to an unshakable allegiance they have to him, it doesn’t bode well for the same publication to be heaping pressure on the prime minister to step down
The article by Rod Little for The Sun on Wednesday, calling for Johnson’s sacking is tantamount to the journalist being a saboteur; the platform of power used and the associated stance impliedly endorsed by Britain’s most widely read paper is being just as hypocritical as that of the prime minister’s office.
The Sun Newspaper should not be found gloating in the prime minister’s failing in keeping his house in order, whilst there own on this matter is not in order. That’s out of order, and should be pointed out.
This is a paper that at least outwardly espouses the shared values of honouring principle, and shouldn’t be found wanting when the mock it is criticizing is found at its own doorstep uncleansed.
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